After being seeded directly into the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division II National Championships, Lindenwood went over a month without playing a game. Perhaps the long layoff was a factor. As the top seed in their pool of four teams, the Lions faced No. 4 seed Indiana and were surprised by the Hoosiers in a 2-1 loss Friday evening at the New England Sports Center (NESC) in Boston, Massachusetts.

In a match-up that included 40 minutes of penalty calls, ironically all three goals came at even strength in the contest. Indiana netted the first late in the opening period on an unassisted play. Michael Mullen countered with his own unassisted effort for Lindenwood at the 13:06 mark of the second to tie things back up, but what proved to be the game-winner for the Hoosiers came just 22-seconds later. Despite their best efforts and a power play opportunity in the latter stages of the third, the Lions could not get an equalizer.

Lindenwood outshot Indiana 33-27 and Ethan Paulin-Hatch stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced.

With the loss, the Lions will need some help from other teams in Pool D to have a chance at advancing into the national championship semifinals. Lindenwood will face the No. 3 seed in the pool the University of New Hampshire Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. CDT at the New England Sports Center in Boston.