UW-River Falls 7, UW-Superior 1

SUPERIOR, Wis. (February 16, 2018) – The 'Jackets saw a familiar foe in UW-River Falls Friday night, playing the Falcons for the third time in three weeks, but were unable to come out on top in the first game of the opening round of the WIAC Playoffs.

It was a hot-shooting first period for both teams, as the 'Jackets fired 11 on goal and the Falcons 16. The scoring started for Superior as Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior) put the biscuit in the basket at 8:49, getting assists from Liam Blais (Uxbridge, Ont./Uxbridge Secondary) and Burno Birzitis. The penalties then began for Superior, including a checking-from-behind call that gave Brandon Barillaro (Alexandria, Ont./Holy Trinity Catholic) a game-misconduct, causing ejection.

The Falcons would then find a score on the power-play opportunity, tying the game 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

The tide soon swung the Falcons' way; they were able to add two more goals in the 5-minute power-play opportunity, and then a fourth at the 12:27 mark to take a 4-1 lead after two periods.

The bleeding continued for the Yellowjackets in the final period of play. River Falls scored two more goals in the first 10 minutes of the period, and then two 10-minute penalties would give the Falcons their fourth power-play goal, and put the game out of reach at 7-1.

Superior surrendered 10 penalties on the game for a total of 50 minutes, compared to the Falcons four and eight total minutes. The Yellowjackets also fell behind in the shots and faceoff wins, connecting on 27 shots and winning 24 faceoffs, while River Falls had 45 shots on goal and won 36 faceoffs.

Cole Skinner (Lunenberg, N.S./Parkview Education Centre) took the loss in the game after playing two periods, making 25 saves, and Oscar Svensson (Södertälje, Sweeden/Åker) played the final twenty minutes with 13 saves.

The Yellowjackets will look to bounce back tomorrow evening when the second game of the back-to-back at 7:05 p.m. in Wessman Arena.