MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – Hoping for revenge against a familiar opponent, the St. Thomas women’s hockey team couldn’t overcome a sluggish start, falling to No. 9-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls 6-3 Wednesday at the St. Thomas Ice Arena.

Riding a four-game unbeaten streak entering Wednesday’s matchup, the Tommies (8-7-2 overall, 7-1-2 MIAC) encountered a rude awakening from the onset. The Falcons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the game and led 4-0 at the end of the first period. Defender Nuala Flood said the team played well in the latter stages of the game but added that the early deficit proved too costly in the end.

“We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had in the first period, and we let them capitalize a few too many times. It makes it tough,” Flood said. “We saw in the third period that we outplayed them and outscored them 3-1 in the third. That’s not enough though when you give them five goals.”

Coach Tom Palkowski said the team has no one to blame but itself for the slow start.

“It was just our lack of preparation and fight, plain and simple,” Palkowski said. “We did not come ready to play, and we felt sorry for ourselves.”

River Falls’ leading scorer, forward Chloe Kinsel, started the scoring for the Falcons just over three minutes into the game when she beat Tommie goaltender Taylor Neisen with a shot past her blocker. Before the night was over, Kinsel would be etching her name in the River Falls history books.

The Falcons struck again just under two minutes later on when forward Brianna Breiland’s goal made the score 2-0. River Falls added two more tallies to make the score 4-0 by the end of the first frame, including one on a highlight reel, end-to-end rush by Kinsel for her second goal of the game.

After St. Thomas defenseman Dani Lobejko was called for a tripping penalty, River Falls capitalized and stretched its lead to 5-0 on the ensuing power-play. Kinsel tapped in a pass in front of the net to complete the hat trick and give her 100 career points.

The first half of the third period was a back and forth affair until the Tommies finally broke through. After defenseman Megan Juricko was called for interference, it looked as though the Falcons would add to their already sizable lead before forward Tara Baago pounced on an errant pass and capitalized.

Baago intercepted a pass at the blue line, out-skated the pursuing defenders and beat River Falls goaltender Angie Hall for a short-handed goal with 7:53 left in the game that made the score 5-1. Baago’s team-leading 10th goal of the season gave the Tommies some life.

The Falcons responded with a power-play goal just under a minute later though to push their lead back to five.

Palkowski said he noticed a different style of play from his team in the third period.

“We finally started playing. We went from the first period when we had three or four girls ready to play … to the third when we got up to about 14 or 15,” Palkowski said. “Sometimes you just need a spark.”

After a River Falls penalty, Juricko’s shot from the point found the back of the net for a power-play goal that made the score 6-2 with 6:14 left in the game. Baago and forward Courtney Umland were credited with assists on the goal.

St. Thomas applied further pressure and struck again a short while later. Forward Alison Borgstrom was credited with an assist on forward Paige Healy’s strange goal that cut the Falcon lead to three with 4:50 remaining in the game. Healy said her goal was just a product of being around the front of the net

“It hit me in the face and then hit the goalie in the shoulder before going in the net,” Healy said. “Crashing the net and having it hit your body and go in is just part of (the game).”

Healy’s goal spelled the end to the Tommies’ attempted comeback, but Flood said the team can still take something away from its strong play in the third period.

“It’s a mental thing, we have to play tough the whole 60 minutes of a game. We played tough in the third period – not so much the first two,” Flood said. “It taught us we can play with anybody in the country. We outplayed them in the third, and if we would have taken it to them before that, we could have beat them.”

St. Thomas will travel to Augsburg Friday before returning home Saturday to face the Auggies.

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.