No. 1 UW–River Falls Tops Cobbers

RIVER FALLS, Wis. (1/3/26) — Concordia-Moorhead faced an early test on Saturday afternoon and ultimately fell to No. 1 UW–River Falls, 10-1, in nonconference women's hockey action.

The Falcons set the tone from the opening faceoff, controlling possession and outshooting the Cobbers throughout the contest. UW–River Falls opened the scoring at the 8:38 mark of the first period, as MaKenna Aure scored at even strength to give the Falcons a 1–0 advantage. Despite the pressure, goaltender Hailee Bailey came up with several key saves before and after the goal to keep River Falls to a single tally through the opening 20 minutes.

River Falls broke the game open in the second period, scoring four times to build its lead. Megan Goodreau made it 2–0 at 3:11, followed by a power-play goal from Aure at 8:35. Concordia responded with its lone goal of the night at 10:38, when Taylyn Cope finished a play set up by Morgan Sauvageau to cut the deficit to 3–1. The Falcons answered quickly with a goal just 28 seconds later and added another power-play marker at 16:28 to take a 5–1 lead into the third period.

UW–River Falls continued to pull away in the final period, scoring four times in the opening seven minutes. Goodreau completed her hat trick just 19 seconds into the period, and the Falcons followed with goals from Katherine Bell, Gracyn Knowles on the power play, and Sophia Hess to extend the margin. A late even-strength goal at 16:57 capped the scoring.

Bailey faced steady pressure in net for the Cobbers and finished with 34 saves in 41:25 of play. Kate Stephens finished off the final 18:35 in the game and came up with nine saves. 

Concordia returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 6, when the Cobbers travel to UW–Superior for a 4:00 p.m. nonconference matchup.