After a close game through the first two periods, four goals in the third helped the Lions pull away for a 6-1 victory over Missouri State Friday night at the Jordan Valley Ice Park in Springfield, Missouri.

Both offenses were on the attack as the teams combined for 99 shots in the contest, but it took almost a full 20-minutes before the first goal, which came off the blade of Caige Sterzer, assisted by Andy Willis and Kyler Newman with 29-seconds remaining in the opening frame.  The Bears responded midway through the second to tie the game, but Lindenwood retook the lead moments later when David Gagnon scored off a feed from Kyle Jeffers at 9:06.  It was all Lions from there in the final period.

Willis sounded the horn on back-to-back efforts in a span of just 79-seconds.  Sterzer and Zach Aughe helped on the first of the two at the 3:12 mark of the third, then Aughe earned the solo assist on the second goal to quickly give Lindenwood a 4-1 advantage.  Less than two minutes later, the Lions made it 5-1 when Jeffers netted a shot off a pass from Newman at 6:19.  The final score came with 7:24 remaining in regulation when Colton Craigo split the pipes on a play set up by Jackson Wozniak and Aiden Yakimchuk.

The Lions outshot Missouri State 61 to 38 and Trent Burnham stopped 37 of the 38 pucks he faced to earn the win in goal for Lindenwood.

With the win, the Lions improved to 14-3-0.  They'll attempt to sweep the Bears in the series finale Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Jordan Valley Ice Park.