Box Score

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Bethel University men's hockey team came out of the gates slowly and found themselves down 4-0 after the first period in a 6-2 loss at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The Royals were able to score on two power plays in the second period but two more Falcons goals, one in the second period, one in the third stretched their lead back to four goals. It was the first time all season the Royals found themselves down by more than two goals at any point and the first loss not decided by a single goal margin.

"We had a very slow start against a very good team," said Royals coach Charlie Burggraf. "We had some solid play at time but we were unable to sustain consistent play and the results of that are usually not positive. We need to learn from this game and put the inconsistent play problem to bed."

The Falcons scored all four of their first period goals between the 4:56 mark and 11:25. Three of those were even strength goals while the final one was a power play conversion. The Royals were able to chip away with two power play goals within the first 10 minutes of the second period. Travis Payne scored the first on assists by Tony Larson and Colin Mayer. Payne, along with Jack McFarlane, assisted Larson on the second goal. Three minutes later UWRF scored on a penalty shot to go back up by three. The final goal of the game was scored at 13:34 in the third period on another Falcon power play. UWRF converted on two of their four power plays while the Royals were two for five.

The loss drops Bethel to 0-4-1 on the year while UW-River Falls improved to 2-0-1. The Royals will return home to host the defending national champion and No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire at the Bethel University Arena on Saturday night. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. and live stats/video can be found here.