Women's Ice Hockey

UW-River Falls Wins Fifth Straight Women’s Ice Hockey Championship

**UW-River Falls Sports Information contributed to this recap

STEVENS POINT, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls won its fifth straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) women’s ice hockey regular-season championship with a 9-3 victory over UW-Stevens Point at K.B. Willett Arena on Feb. 15.
 
It is the 11th regular-season crown in program history for the Falcons, who also secured the No. 1 seed in the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver’s). UW-River Falls will host the winner of the Feb. 25 first round game between No. 5 seed/No. 4 seed in a semifinal series Feb. 28-March 1. The other semifinal series will feature the No. 3 seed/No. 2 seed, and the two semifinal winners will meet for the O’Brien Cup on March 8 at the highest remaining seed.
 
UW-River Falls (19-3-2 overall, 10-0-1/32 pts. WIAC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period against UW-Stevens Point (12-12-1/6-5-1/18) to cruise to the victory. Bailey Olson recorded her second hat-trick of the season, while Kailey Niccum added two goals and Alexa Niccum had four assists. Kaitlyn Ronn contributed three assists.

It took just seven minutes into the first period for the Falcons to gain a 3-0 lead, with goals from Madison Kadrlik, Madison Lavergne and Bailey Olson on the power play. Kailey Niccum added a goal late in the period for a 4-0 advantage.

The Falcons added two more goals in the second period (Olson’s and Niccum's second of the game), before Maddie Andrle got UW-Stevens Point on the board to make the score 6-1. UW-River Falls’ Kylie Jones responded with a goal for a 7-1 advantage heading into the third period.
 
Olson completed her hat-trick early in the third period, and UW-Stevens Point received goals from Natalie Ahern and Courtney Leising to get within 8-3, but Kennedi Bielenberg-Howarth responded 28 seconds later for a 9-3 lead.
 
UW-River Falls’ Jordan O’Kane, Olivia Hansen and Anna Rade each played a period in the net, combining for 13 saves. O’Kane earned the victory, her 12th of the season.
 
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