Men's ACHA Division II ice hockey won its opening game of the Liberty Showcase 5-1 against the host Flames Friday night at LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.

An evenly played first period stayed scoreless until Logan Millhausen netted his first collegiate goal on a play set up by Shane Ziegler and Jacob Behnen at 19:04.
Lindenwood carried a 1-0 lead into the second and then took charge of the contest, aided by several Liberty penalties. Sean McMahon capitalized on the first one when he sounded the horn for a power play goal at 2:19, assisted by Sam Watson and Steve Avalone. The Flames took a hooking penalty a couple minutes later and the Lions only needed 12-seconds to take advantage when Nolan Kahl scored off a pass from Brett Robinson at 5:02 to make it 3-0 Lindenwood.

While scoring chances were relatively even in the period, it was the Lions that continued to get the puck to the back of the net. Watson did just that at the 12:32 mark off a feed from Michael Mullen, and then Gage Vierzba scored his first collegiate goal at even strength with help from Anthony Tinsley and Avalone at 14:26 for a 5-0 Lindenwood advantage. Liberty broke the shutout midway through the third, but that was all the Lions would yield.

Lindenwood went 2/7 on the power play while holding the Flames scoreless on four man-advantage chances. The Lions outshot Liberty 34-30 and Ethan Paulin-Hatch was a difference-maker in goal, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced.

With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 5-1 on the season. The Lions continue play at the Liberty Showcase against Davenport University Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., then they wrap up the weekend with a contest against Florida Gulf Coast Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Both games will be played at the LaHaye Ice Center.