RIVER FALLS, Wis. (csssaints.com) - The St. Scholastica men's hockey team was able to hold off the University of Wisconsin - River Falls for a 5-4 victory at Hunt Arena in River Falls on Friday.
 
Notables
-The Saints now lead the series 17-10-3
-CSS and River Falls both had two power play goals
 
The Action
CSS opened the scoring off on a goal by Kristofer McKinzie (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Marshall School (Minnesota Magicians-NAHL)) in the sixth minute. McKinzie added another soon after to make it 2-0 in favor of the Saints. River Falls responded with a goal with a minute remaining to make it 2-1 at the end of the first.
 
Jordan Fralich (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Marshall School (Bismarck-NAHL)) scored for the Saints on the power play to make it 3-1. With five minutes left in the period, Nolan Ross (Fort Frances, Ontario/Fort Frances HS (Fort Frances-SIJHL)) added another goal to close the period with a score of 4-1.
 
At the start of the third, River Falls pushed hard to get back in the game, doing so after three minutes had passed. The Saints responded with a goal by Kyle Star (Langley, British, Columbia/Brookswood (Trail Smoke-BCHL)) on the power play to restore the 3-goal lead.
 
The Falcons were able to pull two back, but the Saints were able to hold them off for the remainder of the period to finish with a 5-4 win.
 
Goaltending
Forbes Ploszaj (Gilbert, Arizona/Gilbert HS (Aberdeen-NAHL)) saved 23 of the 27 shots for the Saints, while Michael Hughes saved 15 of 20 for the Falcons.
 
Up Next
The Saints (6-5-1) play their final game of 2017 on Saturday against No. 11 Augsburg in Minneapolis. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.