St. Norbert Tops UW-River Falls to Advance to NCHA Peters Cup Final

From Sports Information Director, February 26, 2011 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College advanced to the finals of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Peters Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 win over UW-River Falls at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (21-4-1), ranked No. 2 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, remained unbeaten and untied at home this year at 12-0 and will face UW-Superior in the championship next Saturday. River Falls' season ended 12-14-2, and the Falcons dropped to 0-18 all-time at the Cornerstone against the Green Knights.

River Falls' Bean Beaudoin put the Falcons up early at the 13:19 mark of the first period with a goal just as a penalty expired. The Green Knights' Kurt Astle tied it up at 1-1 with a back-door wrister at 17:21.

The Green Knights scored twice in the early going of the second period, getting goals from Cody Keefer at 1:59 and Kyle Stroh at 7:23. Stroh's marker was a power-play goal. River Falls' Jason Yuel scored on the power play at 15:38, but the Green Knights answered as Keefer fed Nick Tabisz coming down the slot for a power-play score at 17:38 and a 4-2 lead.

Stroh scored 34 seconds into the third period for a 5-2 advantage. River Falls' Alec Hagaman made it 5-3 at 16:46, but despite two minutes of extra-attacker time the Falcons would not seriously threaten to score again.

Brandon Hoogenboom scored two assists and Keefer added an assist for a three-point night.

St. Norbert outshot River Falls 22-15, including 6-2 in the third period. B.J. O'Brien made 12 saves for the Green Knights, while Scott Lewan turned away 17 shots for the Falcons. The Green Knights were 2-for-5 on the power play while River Falls was 1-for-4.