Box Score Box Score
The CSS men's hockey team took down the NCHA leading University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons in a 3-2 thriller at Mars Lakeview Arena Friday night.
The Saints narrowly defeated the Falcons (12-4-2, 5-2-1 NCHA) despite committing 11 penalties in the game.
The Falcons took the early lead just seven minutes after the puck drop when Willie Hess put in a power play goal on assists from Adam Cardwell and George Malliaras.
Just five and a half minutes later
Brandon Nowakowski (Calgary, Alberta/Central Memorial HS (Calgary Royals-AJHL)) tied the game up scoring on assists from
Alex Valenti (Blaine, Wash./Bellingham HS (Merritt-BCHL) ) and
Carter Davis (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan/Central Collegiate (Waywayseecappo-MJHL) ). The score remained at one a piece going into the first intermission.
River Falls would once again take the lead on a power play goal early in the second from the stick of Geoff Shewmake. Blake Huppert and Jake Calleja got assists on the play and the score was 2-1 UWRF three and a half minutes into the period.
The Saints tied it up again three minutes later on a power play goal of their own as
Austin Brown (Lathrup Village, Mich./Legacy HS (Woodstock-MJAHL) ) put in a slap shot from
Tyler Miller (Fort Frances, Ontario/Rainy River HS (Thunder Bay-SIJHL) ) and
Jeremy Dawes (Winnipeg, Manitoba/College Jeanne Suave (Portage-MJHL) ) to make it 2-2.
At the 14:51 mark of the second period Davis put in a goal of his own for the Saints to give them their first lead of the game at 3-2. Miller and Dawes once again earned assists on the play. The goaltenders held strong in the remaining five minutes to keep the score at 3-2 CSS going into intermission.
The third period proved to be a wild one as the Saints were penalized five times, four of which were in the first eight and a half minutes. The Falcons controlled the puck for most of the period as a great deal of it was a power play but the Saints killed all five penalties. The penalty kills proved to be vital for CSS as they left the arena victorious by a score of 3-2.
Colin Rundell (Tees, Alberta/Lacombe Composite (Alaska-Fairbanks) ) earned the victory for the Saints improving his record to 7-5-3 on the season. Rundell made 24 saves on the night including 13 in the third period.
The Saints had three players with two total points on the night in Dawes, Miller and Davis. The trio remains in second, third and fourth on the team in points with 19, 18 and 17 respectively.
With the victory the Saints now move into sole possession of third place in the conference with 13 points as UW-Stevens Point was off tonight. With the Falcon loss combined with a St. Norbert victory the Green Knights now lead the conference with 15 points while UWRF falls into second with 14.
The Saints (10-5-3) will take on the Falcons once again tomorrow night in game two of the weekend series. The puck drop will be at 7:05 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena and can be seen on GameCentral at csssaints.com
