River Falls played its closest game of the season at Menomonie, falling 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 23.

“We've been playing better hockey lately,” Wildcats head coach Brent Swanson said. “The result isn't what we had hoped for, but we battled.”

Menomonie (7-14) took a 2-0 lead through the first three minutes of the second period with goals from Tanner Demarce and Sedric Yukel. Looking for their first win of the season, the Wildcats (0-10) broke through late in the second period with a power play goal by Wyatt Bell, assisted by Austin Harer.

Leading scorer Tye Kusilek tied things up for the Wildcats early in the third period on an even-strength goal with Harer’s second assist of the game. Less than two minutes later, Grady Nygaard scored unassisted to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 3-2.

River Falls held the lead for 11 minutes until Demarce tied things up 3-3 for his second goal of the game, which forced overtime. The Mustangs struck quickly in the extra period as Yukel scored the game winner for his second goal of the contest. The Mustangs out-shot the Wildcats 6-1 in overtime.

Wildcats goalie Andrew Addermann stopped 40 shots and finished with a save percentage of .909 in the loss. Mustangs goalie Jack Drout netted 25 saves posted an .893 save percentage.

While River Falls got out-shot 44-28, the Wildcats penalty kill excelled in holding the Mustangs to 0-4 on power plays. Giving up only four penalties was an improvement, Swanson said.

“We've had penalty issues all year,” he said The Wildcats came into the game fresh off their second four-goal loss of the season, a 6-

2 defeat at Somerset (10-9-1) on Jan. 21. River Falls took a 2-1 lead in the second period with goals from Harer and Teddy Norman, but the lead lasted about 10 minutes before the Spartans rallied.

Somerset scored three unanswered goals for a 4-2 about 12 minutes into the third period. River Falls couldn’t pull closer, including when the Wildcats pulled their goalie and gave up an empty-net goal. The Spartans then tacked on another late goal to make it five unanswered goals. AJ Simpkins and Michael Shannon scored hat tricks for the Spartans.

River Falls had another chance on Monday to end the season-long losing streak with a game at Black River Falls (2-5). The Wildcats host top-ranked Hudson (13-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season on Friday at 6 p.m. in Somerset.

Boys hoops routs Rice Lake

River Falls cruised past Rice Lake with an 80-36 win on Jan. 23.

Zach Johnson led all scorers with 36 points, and he dished three assists and grabbed three rebounds. He also had three steals and two blocks.

Liam Dougherty posted 15 points and nabbed six rebounds. Chirs Chapin chipped in 14 points and garnered a couple rebounds.

The Wildcats (11-2, 6-2) remained in second place for the Big Rivers Conference with the win.