Special teams played a key role Saturday afternoon as the men's ACHA Division II hockey squad defeated Florida Gulf Coast 6-4 as part of the Miami University (Ohio) Showcase at the Goggin Ice Arena in Oxford, Ohio. Lindenwood yielded six power plays to the Eagles, but only gave up one goal. The Lions only had two man-advantage chances, but scored on both of them.

The first goal of the game came at even-strength on an unassisted effort from Steve Avalone, giving Lindenwood a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark of the opening period. Sean McMahon doubled that advantage when he netted the puck at 14:50 on a play set up by Josh Linn and Jacob Behnen, but FGCU scored two goals in a span of 61-seconds to tie the game.

The score remained knotted 2-2 until a flurry of offense late in the second put the Lions ahead for good. Jack Radley sounded the horn at 13:22 with help from Behnen and Chase McClellan, then the two power play goals came back-to-back, the first off the blade of Stanley Lucas just 28-seconds later. Radley and Linn earned the assists. Linn made it 5-2 Lindenwood on the second power play at 15:08, assisted by Ryan Granville and Avalone.

The Eagles scored their lone power play goal with 58-seconds remaining in the period to make it 5-3, but the Lions countered with a Michael Mullen unassisted shot at the 7:23 mark of the third to build a 6-3 advantage. FGCU added an even-strength goal in the final four minutes of regulation, but that was as close as the Eagles would get before time ran out.

Shots on goal were almost even with Lindenwood having a 44-41 advantage, but Ethan Paulin-Hatch was strong in goal, stopping 37 of the 41 shots he faced to earn the victory for the Lions, who improved to 20-5-0 overall.

Lindenwood wraps up its play in the Miami University Showcase against Liberty University Sunday afternoon. The puck drops at 1:20 p.m. at the Goggin Ice Arena in Oxford, Ohio.