Falcons Take Down Tommies

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW ACHA team took on the St. Thomas Tommies in a battle for a bid to ACHA Nationals inside the Ozaukee Ice Center on Friday night.

The late-night hockey matchup was the first in a series that had extreme implications for an auto bid to the ACHA Division II National Tournament. The top two seeds in each region lay claim to the qualifier into nationals, and the Tommies currently occupy that second spot. The Falcons, however, sit right behind at No. 3 in the region. A pair of wins pushes the Falcons into that second spot and nationals.

The Blue and White came out hot with the first two goals of the matchup, spanning the first two periods. 

Sophomore Nolan Judge (Glendale, Ariz.) netted his first goal of the season to give the Falcons the 1-0 lead. 

He was assisted by seniors Lucas Kreuser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Alex Way (Ottawa, Ont.). Senior Jacob Palmerio (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) netted the second Falcon goal on a powerplay opportunity with an assist from Kreuser.

The Tommies netted the first goal of the third period in the third minute on a powerplay opportunity, but the Falcons pushed their lead back to two with a goal from Kreuser with assists from Way and senior Sam Weiss (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) just over a minute later.

Sophomore Tommy Cassel (Grafton, Wis.) drained the fourth goal for the Blue and White with just over two minutes remaining off passes from junior Ian Malcolmson (Waukesha, Wis.) and senior Rex Staudacher (Yorkville, Ill.).

Senior Msck Willy (Tacoma, Wash.) came up with countless clutch saves down the stretch and finished with 22.

 The Falcons look to claim the auto bid into the ACHA National Tournament with a win on Saturday afternoon.