STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team (2-4-0, 0-1-0) opened league play on Thursday with a 6-1 loss to No. 4 UW-River Falls (5-0-0, 1-0-0).
 
The Falcons stormed out to a 3-0 lead with goals at 4:56, 6:25 and a shorthanded goal at 9:05 of the first period. UWSP settled in and held UWRF scoreless the rest of the first while generating five shots on goal.
 
The Pointers started the second period with 17 seconds of power play remaining. Just as the power play elapsed, Annika Horman (Appleton, Wis./North) fired a shot past the UWRF goaltender to get UWSP on the board. It was her team-leading third goal of the season with Courtney Leising (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) getting an assist on the play.
 
The momentum was short-lived as the Falcons scored again at 3:09 of the second. UWRF added goals at 5:37 and 16:32 of the second for a 6-1 lead.
 
The teams skated to a scoreless third period with the Pointers firing three shots on goal.
 
UWSP goaltender Emily Griege (Chesterfield, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) made a season-high 43 saves. UWRF goaltenders Jordan O'Connor and Anna Rader combined for nine saves.
 
The Pointers will return to action on Tuesday (Nov. 14) at St. Norbert with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop in De Pere.