RIVER FALLS — The trophy case is filling up in a hurry at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, winning a third consecutive Division III Women’s Hockey National Championship, the school’s second national title of the year along with the football title.

“To actually even have that chance once in a lifetime is crazy, but then to do it three times in a row is crazy,” Head Coach Joe Cranston said.

After a gritty 1-0 win over Williams in the quarterfinals a week ago, the Falcons had the honor of hosting the Frozen Four as the top seed. River Falls, who ended the season 30-1, started off a bit on their heels Friday, with Amherst looking excellent in the opening minutes before a costly body checking penalty swung the momentum drastically in River Falls’ favor.

“We were just kind of throwing the puck, not moving our feet, not looking for the wings and the centers, but we figured it out and got the puck out of the zone,” Captain Megan Goodreau said.

Just like they did all year long, River Falls converted on the powerplay with Alexa Niccum shoving one in directly in front of the net on a nice feed from Goodreau. The Falcons got another powerplay early in the second period and again made it count, with the captain Goodreau finishing the job herself this time around.

“They’re just so creative, and their hockey IQ is high. Our first powerplay goal, they just made that up. I don’t know what Niccum was doing over there,” Cranston said. “The second one was kind of a broken play, it was even worse… They know no matter what they throw at them on a penalty kill, these girls can adjust and make plays.”

Madison Kadrlik scored later in the second, and while Amherst got one back in the final minutes, it was too little too late, and UWRF was headed to the National Championship against Nazareth on Sunday.

Despite three Nazareth penalties in the first 20 minutes, the two squads headed to the locker rooms after the first period intermission scoreless. The third penalty, though, carried over into the second period where UWRF would finally make Nazareth pay. MaKenna Aure took a rip at the net that was deflected in by Brooklyn Riley to open the scoring. Two minutes later, Sophia Hess cashed one in for the Falcons for a 2-0 lead.

Senior defender Aure was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, tallying a pair of assists in the title game.

Kadrlik, known as “Captain Automatic” for her consistency by Cranston, scored midway through the third to essentially seal the deal and Hess put the cherry on top in the final minutes with an empty net goal for a 4-0 final score.

“As far as my team goes, I thought overall at the end of the game pretty happy. Obviously very happy with the results. We came out jittery in the first period and couldn’t handle pucks,” Cranston said. “Wasn’t very happy with them after the first period, but I’m happy with them now. They worked hard.”

The tale of the success boiled down to two things all tournament long: power play conversion and lockdown defense headed by senior goalie Jordan O’Kane and a group of great defenders. The Falcons outscored opponents 8-1 over three tournament games and O’Kane saved an absurd 89-of-90 shots faced. Cranston also credited the forwards for being willing to get down and dirty in the defensive zone. The title game shutout was the ninth for O’Kane this season, a UWRF record. Cranston had high praise for the goalie, saying she was the best player on the ice in the semi-final win, and the tournament run included some of her best performances as a Falcon.

There was plenty more history where that came from, with Goodreau tying Laura Hurd’s 77-point single season record in Division III set back in 2001-02.

“She worked so hard this year to be that player, to finish the year like she did. I don’t make any secrets about it, [Goodreau] is the best goal scorer that has ever played for me and MaKenna Aure is the best hockey player that I’ve ever coached in 42 years,” Cranston said. “We just won three National Championships, and it’s because of these guys. They’re crazy good hockey players and they’re awesome people.”

The Falcons boast an absurd 87-4-2 record over the three-year title streak. They are now one of three Division III Women’s Hockey programs to win three consecutive titles, joining Middlebury College (2004-06) and Plattsburgh State (2014-17).

“River Falls, it’s a pretty easy sell. We work hard at it, but when you come and you look at this university and the facilities we have, and our location, our price tag, we have a lot of things going for us here,” Cranston said. “Coach of the Year, well that’s all about [the student-athletes]. They’re the ones that go out on the ice and sweat and work their butt off every day so that we have that respect for our program.”

Seniors Goodreau and Aure both said they are going to come back and watch future UWRF teams lace up the skates and look to continue the legacy. When you join UWRF women’s hockey, you become a Falcon for life.

“I don’t think I’ve been with a program that’s been there for each other as much as we have, our team and even our community in River Falls,” Aure said. “They’re my family, for sure… We’ve had a lot more good times than bad times in our senior class, and I’m definitely going to miss them.”

O’Kane and Aure even competed together at the high school level at Alexandria, Minn., so the duo is no stranger to winning together.

“It’s a great feeling to know where we came from and how far we came as players and also as people,” Aure said.

The message for the Falcons has never wavered. They do not believe in wins being handed to them, and they will not stop working until they get to watch another banner hit the rafters. Well, up the banner goes yet again.

“Anything worthwhile has a price tag. They show up and we don’t ever talk about winning National Championships. I never tell them that they are any good. I just tell them they need to work hard. Our goals are to show up every Monday through Thursday and work hard, and get better and pay a price for success,” Cranston said.