The women's ACHA division I ice hockey team suffered a 7-2 defeat versus the Maryville University Saints Saturday night at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The loss drops the Lions back below .500 for the first time since November 7^th.

Both teams were relatively evenly matched through most of the first period. Maryville got on the board first at 8:07, but Loki Antonio answered with a power play goal at 15:43. The unassisted goal was her 21^st of the season and tied the game at 1 goal apiece. But the tie would not last long as Julia Schoonbaert was sent to the penalty box for a hooking minor. The Saints capitalized 1:06 seconds after the Antonio goal, retaking the lead 2-1 while on the man-advantage. But leave it to the Lions star forward Loki Antonio to knot the game up at 2-2 at 17:56. She scored her 22^nd of the season and 2^nd of the game off feeds from Hilary Pearce and Ardyn Hawryshko.

Unfortunately for the Lions, this is where the fire inside the team died out. As the second period commenced, it was all Maryville for the remainder of the game. The Saints scored four unanswered goals in the second period and outshot the Lions 21-6. The first came at 5:37, the second at 7:52, the third at 9:29, and the fourth at 12:49. The last goal was enough for Lions head coach James Miller to pull starting goaltender Evi Allerding for backup Erica Didocha. The score was 6-2 Maryville heading into the final period of play.

Didocha helped settle things down for the Lions as she stopped 13 of 14 shots faced in the second and third periods. The Saints added one more insurance goal at 18:13 while on the power play, extending their lead to 7-2. The Lions outshot the Saints 11-9 in the third, but their abysmal second period created a deficit that was too great to overcome. Maryville outshot Lindenwood 43-31 in the game and 15-1 while on the power play. Evi Allerding was tabbed with the loss.

With the loss, the Lions drop to 8-9-1 on the season. They will be back in action tomorrow night as they square off again with the Maryville Saints at Centene Community Ice Center. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 3:50 p.m.