UW-River Falls wins the Cardinal\/Panther Classic, defeating Plattsburgh 3-2 and then Middlebury 3-2 in OT (Photo by Nathanael LePage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe University of Wisconsin – River Falls made the headlines this weekend after their big tournament victory in the annual Cardinal\/Panther Classic held this year in Plattsburgh, NY. There weren\u2019t many games played by west teams this weekend, none holding a large amount of significance besides UWRF. Some teams played earlier this week on Tuesday Nov. 22, but River Falls stole the headlines by winning two games that caused a major shakeup amongst the top teams in the polls after two statement victories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUW-River Falls Wins the Cardinal\/Panther Classic<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The Cardinal\/Panther Classic, hosted this year by Plattsburgh State, held four of the top teams in the country (three east, one west) this past weekend. #1 Middlebury (3-0), #3 Plattsburgh (7-0), #4 Elmira (7-0), and #6 UW-River Falls (6-1). In the first round games, Middlebury defeated Elmira 3-1 and UWRF defeated the host Plattsburgh 3-2. In the championship\/third-place games, Plattsburgh dominated Elmira 7-0 and UWRF defeated Middlebury in OT 3-2 to leave with the trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn UWRF\u2019s first game vs Plattsburgh, the game was tied 2-2 entering the 3rd period until <\/span>Aubrey Nelvin <\/span><\/i>scored the eventual game winner at the 6:52 mark of the period, while goaltender <\/span>Sami Miller <\/span><\/i>recorded 24 saves in the victory. In the championship game against #1 Middlebury, both teams were tied entering the 3rd 1-1 until UWRF\u2019s <\/span>Maddie McCollins <\/span><\/i>scored at the 7:25 mark of the period to put the Falcons up 2-1. Then things got interesting: with less than 15 seconds remaining, Middlebury\u2019s <\/span>Britt Nawrocki <\/span><\/i>scored a powerplay goal at the 19:45.2 mark of the 3rd period to tie the game up. The Falcons then got the job done in overtime as <\/span>MaKenna Aure <\/span><\/i>scored the winner late in the OT period with less than a minute left (4:03.6 mark) in the period to end Middlebury\u2019s 31-game winning streak that was started last year when they went a perfect 27-0. Goaltender <\/span>Sami Miller <\/span><\/i>also recorded 30 saves in the championship game, bringing her total to 54 on the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\nRiver Falls longtime Head Coach Joe Cranston, following the tournament win, talked about being the lone team from out west in the event and leaving with a victory, also what he believed the team did well throughout: \u201c<\/span>We left River Falls Friday at 3:00 am, and got to Plattsburgh at 3:00 pm. I just wanted to make sure we stayed healthy and to not be sluggish. We had a really good practice that night. I think the team did a very good job of not getting distracted and staying focused on the opportunities ahead of us. It was fun to represent the West, we had a great team effort this weekend; every player contributed to our success!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe updated records and rankings (11\/28\/22) after the tournament: #2 UW River Falls (8-1), #3 Middlebury (4-1), #4 Plattsburgh (8-1), #7 Elmira (7-2).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUW-River Falls now sets themselves up with a 1v2 matchup as they face the new #1 Gustavus in a home-and-away series Dec. 7\/10 at 7:05pm\/2pm CT.<\/span><\/p>\nOther Notable Games<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nAdrian defeats Chatham 6-1 this past weekend *Photo from 11\/18 game vs Trine University* (Photo by Carly Costello)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n#7 Adrian defeated Chatham 6-1 on Saturday 11\/26 to remain undefeated 9-0 on the season. <\/span>Tia Lascelle <\/span><\/i>had 2 goals and an assist, while <\/span>Jessica VonRuden <\/span><\/i>added 1 goal and 2 assists. Adrian now heads out east to Norwich, VT to participate in the Norwich Tournament (Dec. 10-11) where they will face #6 Norwich and then depending on the result on both games, either #4 Plattsburgh or #7 Elmira.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n#9 UW-Eau Claire defeated Hamline 4-2, <\/span>Sophie Rausch <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Sydney Johnson <\/span><\/i>both tallied 2 points apiece, both netting a goal and an assist. Goaltender <\/span>Stephanie Martin <\/span><\/i>recorded the 19 save victory for the Blugolds. Eau Claire faces Northland College next, hosting them tomorrow (11\/30) at 7pm CT.<\/span><\/p>\nSt. Norbert shutout UW-Stevens Point 5-0, leading the way for St. Norbert was <\/span>Abbie Tollefson <\/span><\/i>(2 goals, 1 assist) and <\/span>Erin Huerta <\/span><\/i>(1 goal, 2 assists). Goaltender <\/span>Brynn Waisman <\/span><\/i>recorded the 23 save shutout victory. St. Norbert\u2019s next games are this weekend (Dec. 2\/3) as they play a home-and-away series with Concordia Wisconsin.<\/span><\/p>\nThis week wasn\u2019t too eventful outside of the pair of top 3 wins for UW-River Falls, but now the current polls have three west teams inside the top-5, four inside the top-10 (#1 Gustavus, #2 UW-River Falls, #5 Adrian, & #9 UW-Eau Claire), so the west is certainly representing themselves well at the top!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The University of Wisconsin – River Falls made the headlines this weekend after their big tournament victory in the annual Cardinal\/Panther Classic held this year in Plattsburgh, NY. There weren\u2019t many games played by west teams this weekend, none holding a large amount of significance besides UWRF. Some teams played earlier this week on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":137308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[825],"coauthors":[1699],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
D-III Women's West Week 5 Recap: UW-River Falls... That's all that needs to be said... - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n