After a chippy game Friday night that resulted in a Lions win, another 55-minutes of penalties were called in game two of the series Saturday afternoon as men's ACHA DII ice hockey earned a sweep with a 5-1 victory over the University of Saint Thomas at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The Lions had three power play chances in the opening period, and they cashed in the final one with a
Nick Jones goal at 19:14. Gavin Defosse earned the primary assist with
Brett Robinson getting the secondary assist, his 12
th of the season.
After killing off a hooking penalty early in the second, Lindenwood took another hooking penalty at 8:04, giving the Tommies an opportunity to tie the game, but the Lions turned the tables with a short-handed effort off the blade of
Eli Roofe at 10:03 on a play set up by
Chase McClellan and
Austin Meers. With the score 2-0, Lindenwood added to its lead when
Jacob Behnen fed
Michael Mullen to sound the horn at 16:40 and the Lions took a 3-0 advantage into the second intermission.
Things settled down for a bit early in the third until Saint Thomas was called for boarding at 6:11. As the Tommies were forced to kill another penalty, tempers erupted when Saint Thomas forward Luke Morrisette earned a five-minute major and a game misconduct penalty for major contact to the head at 7:05. At the same time, Robinson was called for goalie interference and roughing, and Jones was sent to the penalty box for roughing. Just 55-second later, the Tommies netted their only goal of the game at the eight-minute mark to pull within two at 3-1, but that was as close as they would get to mounting any type of comeback. Another Saint Thomas penalty for tripping led to a Lindenwood power play goal from
Carter Walby at 13:32 with help from
Gage Vierzba and
Zac Maupin.
Jack Louko completed the scoring for the Lions with 3:40 remaining in regulation. McClellan earned his 16
th assist of the season on the play with Vierzba getting the secondary assist.
Lindenwood outshot the Tommies 30 to 28 and
Justin Grenon was steady in goal with 27 stops on 28 shots. The Lions scored two goals on seven power plays while officially holding Saint Thomas scoreless on five man-advantage chances.
With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 11-1 on the season and extended its winning streak to nine. After an idle weekend, the Lions return to the ice against Liberty University November 8-9 at home. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. Friday night and at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Centene Community Ice Center.
