Falcons look to rebound at Hunt Arena
February 7, 2008
The UW-River Falls men’s hockey team hit a bump in the road in the last four games. Since Jan. 25, their record is 1-3, with the three losses coming consecutively.
On Jan. 25 the Falcons beat UW-Superior at home and then lost at home to St. Scholastica and on the road to UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire.
“In these past few games we’ve strayed from our systems and lacked physical play,” senior captain TJ Dahl said. “Our power play, which has been automatic all year has also struggled as of late and we’re working on it and hoping it will begin to click again like it was awhile back.”
Dahl also said that the losing streak is difficult for not only players and coaches, but fans as well.
“I would have to say that the last few games we’ve lost have been tough for our hockey team and our fans. I guess I wouldn’t say any of them are at the level we want to be playing at,” Dahl said. “We’ve watched the tapes and are working out the kinks.”
Despite the three losses, the Falcons record still sits strong at 14-5-3 overall.
Since the start of winter break, the Falcons have had two new additions to the team in sophomore Stephan Ritter and junior David Moncur.
Junior assistant captain Derek Hansberry said the addition of those two players will help add more experience and depth for future success.
With seven seniors on the roster, the Falcons will have to start looking to their older players for experience in the coming weeks.
“We have a lot of guys on this team that have been around for a few years and have experienced adversity and we’ll lean on our veteran leadership, but mostly as a team we need to realize we need to come out this weekend and make a statement and send a message to every team in our league that these last few games were a fluke and anyone who meets the Falcons from here on out ... will have their hands full,” Dahl said.
Coming into this weekend’s games the Falcons are still ranked nationally, this week holding the No. 9 position. Their opponent for this weekend however, is still ranked No. 1 in the country.
The Falcons host St. Norbert tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Hunt Arena. They will play at home against Saturday night as well, with a game against Lake Forrest.