The Lions quest for a national title at the 2022 American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division II National Championship ended with a 6-1 loss to the University of Mary in the semifinals Thursday night at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

Lindenwood fell behind early in the opening period when the Marauders scored at the 2:11 mark. It remained 1-0 until the Lions tied the game with a Bobby Bross shot at 1:23 of the second, assisted by Declan Carter and Nick Thorpe. The University of Mary took over from there with four unanswered goals in a span of just over five minutes. It was enough to chase Lions goalie Trevor Osborne for Michael Errico, but Lindenwood had a big hill to climb, trailing 5-1. The Marauders scored one more in the third and kept the Lions offense from scoring, ending the season for Lindenwood.

The University of Mary outshot the Lions 31 to 25. Osborne stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced and Errico stopped seven of the eight he saw in relief. 
Lindenwood completed its season with a record of 26-7-3.

The Lions advanced to the semifinals by winning their pool earlier in the tournament, but it wasn't easy. As the top seed in their pool, they faced the No. 4 seed Montana State in the opening game March 14, but the Bobcats played unlike a number four seed, going toe-to-toe with Lindenwood. Montana State put pressure on the Lions right away, scoring a goal in the first 21-seconds. Lindenwood responded with a Bross goal, and the first period ended in a 1-1 tie. The Lions took the lead with a Tim Machant power play goal at 6:25 of the second, but the Bobcats answered less than a minute later, and then took a 3-2 advantage with 52-seconds remaining in the period. Lindenwood made it 3-3 when Carter sounded the horn with just 11-seconds on the clock.

It looked like the Lions had sealed the game when Michael Mullen split the pipes with just 2:22 left in regulation, but Montana State tied it a minute later. The two teams went scoreless in the overtime session, ending it in a 4-4 tie.

Lindenwood outshot the Bobcats 51 to 25 and Osborne stopped 21 of 25 shots. With the tie, the two teams meaning that they split the pool play points, forcing Lindenwood to win out to advance.

That's what the Lions did, but it took another overtime game against No. 3 seed New Hampshire on March 15 to do it. After a scoreless first, the Wildcats hit the back of the net in the opening seconds of the middle frame, but Bross answered later in the period. New Hampshire regained the lead in the third, but once again, Lindenwood answered off the blade of Thorpe. Carter blasted the game-winner at the 1:25 mark in overtime to give the Lions a 3-2 victory.

Lindenwood outshot the Wildcats 31 to 27 and Errico stopped 25 of 27 to earn the win in goal.

Unlike the first two games, the final pool play contest wasn't as dramatic as Lindenwood defeated No. 2 seed Liberty 4-2 on March 16. The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Bross and Nils Tofilovski in the first. A Carter score in the opening four minutes of the second expanded the margin to 3-0 and Lindenwood was able to keep the Flames at arms-length the rest of the way. Liberty did score a goal midway through the period to make it 3-1. The Flames pulled to within one goal early in the third, but couldn't find the equalizer, so they pulled their goalie as regulation time was running down. Tofilovski sealed the victory with an empty-netter.

The Lions outshot Liberty 38 to 25 and Osborne stopped 23 of 25 to earn the win in goal.