Women's Hockey opens season with 3-4 loss

UW-River Falls’ women's hockey team took to the ice at Hunt Arena on Oct. 29 to open up the 2022-2023 season. The Falcons, ranked fifth in the USCHO DIII Preseason Poll, took on Augsburg for their first game. This season follows a stellar 2021-2022 season for the Falcons, which included a record 27-win season, a WIAC regular season title, and an O-Brien Cup Championship.

The River Falls women's team opened up the season similar to how the River Falls men’s hockey team kicked off their season the night before. At 1:17 in the first period, Emma Schmitz found freshman Kailey Niccum to score the first Falcon goal of the game, giving UWRF a 1-0 lead. It was also Niccum’s first collegiate goal of her career. 

At 5:54, the Falcons had a power play opportunity, and Bailey Olson, with another assist from Emma Schmitz, scored the second goal of the game, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead. With 1:49 left in the first period, Augsburg got on the board to make the score 2-1, thanks to a goal by Auggies forward Katie Flynn. 

The second period was all Augsburg. Augsburg had a power play at the 13:34 mark, thanks to a roughing by Madison Lavergne, and was able to take advantage and tie the game. Then, a few minutes later, as the second period was close to ending, Augsburg took the lead 3-2 thanks to an unassisted goal by Auggies defender Nora Stepan. 

Twenty-two seconds into the third period, Augsburg scored their fourth goal and extended their lead to 4-2 thanks to a Kennedy Stein goal assisted by Nora Stepan. Late in the third period, Falcon forward Emma Schmitz was able to score a goal to cut the deficit to 4-3.

It was too little too late for the Falcons, as Augsburg was able to hold on to win 4-3 and win an upset victory over the fifth-ranked Falcons.