RIVER FALLS, Wisconsin — The sixth-ranked St. Thomas women’s hockey team ended its season after falling to third-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls 4-1 Friday night in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals at Hunt Arena.
St. Thomas coach Tom Palkowski said he was proud of his team’s effort this season, despite the loss.
“This group has been nothing short of amazing,” Palkowski said. “It’s been a very cohesive group from day one, to a trip to the final eight and a chance at a final four.”
The first period was a feeling-out process for both teams with few chances and no goals. River Falls (21-5-2 overall, 9-3 WIAC) came out of the first intermission ready to strike, scoring just 29 seconds into the second period on a deflected shot.
Around the second period’s 6:55 mark, the Tommies (20-6-2 overall, 12-4-2 MIAC) appeared to have scored to tie the game. However, the goal wasn’t counted, as the officials had lost sight of the puck and blown the play dead.
Despite the misfortune, the Tommies tied the game 1-1 a few minutes later when defenseman Hannah Bird scored on a rebound at the 12:06 mark of the period.
Just when it looked like St. Thomas had momentum on its side, the Falcons answered the Tommie goal, scoring at 15:06 to regain the lead 2-1.
The closing seconds of the period gave St. Thomas a scoring opportunity, but the Tommies were unable to get a shot past the Falcons’ goaltender.
The score remained 2-1 at the end of the second period, but UW-River Falls took command of the game in the third.
After St. Thomas was called for a hooking penalty early in the period, the Falcons capitalized with a power play goal at the 3:15 mark of the third period to take a 3-1 lead.
River Falls ultimately put the game out of reach a few minutes later with another power play goal at 5:29 following a Tommie roughing penalty to give the Falcons the 4-1 lead they kept until the final buzzer.
“We didn’t capitalize on our chances, and penalties got us into trouble,” Palkowski said of the Tommies’ seven penalties during the game.
Senior defender Nuala Flood was disappointed with the result of Friday’s game, but she was proud of what the team was able to accomplish this season.
“We started the season wanting to win the MIAC regular-season title,” Flood said. “We did that and then went on and got the playoff championship, which is huge for us, because we wanted to come back to the NCAA tournament, and we were able to do that. Unfortunately, we fell just short of a trip to the Frozen Four.”
The Tommies have been a part of the NCAA tournament each of the last three seasons.
River Falls will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Elmira College and Adrian College.
Taylor Smith can be reached at smit9660@stthomas.edu.