After edging the host Saints 2-1 on Friday, men's ACHA DII ice hockey completed a three-game sweep at the Maryville Showcase with a 10-0 victory over the University of Missouri Saturday afternoon at the Maryville Ice Center in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Lindenwood began the three-day event with a 10-0 shutout of Arkansas on Thursday, but the contest on Friday proved to be the most competitive. Just over two minutes into the game, the Saints took a boarding penalty, and the Lions went to work on the power play. It took just over a minute for Nick Jones to find the back of the net on a play set up by Austin Meers and Brock Hart at 3:26.

That advantage did not last for long, however. Maryville answered with an even-strength tally at the 4:46 mark and had a chance to take the lead after Lindenwood took a roughing penalty after the goal, but the Lions killed it off. A game that looked like it would be an offensive affair with multiple goals turned into a defensive and goaltending battle from there. The final 15-plus minutes of the opening period ticked away without any scoring. Then, the entire second period elapsed without the 1-1 score changing.

As the third period unfolded, pressure increased on each goalie as the next score could be the difference. Saints netminder Addison Zeich continued to make save after save until Meers finally slipped a shot past him with just 6:36 remaining in regulation, assisted by Finnigan Greeley and Jack Louko. The pressure then flipped to Lindenwood goaltender Cole Wheaton to preserve the lead and potential victory. That's exactly what he did.

The Lions outshot Maryville 47 to 18 and Wheaton stopped 17 of the 18 pucks he faced. Meanwhile. Zeich stopped 45 of 47 in a hard-luck loss for the Saints.
Lindenwood wrapped up the showcase with a less stressful 10-0 shutout of the Tigers on Saturday. Aided by three power play goals, one in each period, the Lions scored two in the first period, five in the second, and three in the third. McClellan sounded the horn for the first of those to give Lindenwood an early 1-0 advantage. Gabriel Jijuk finished off the opening frame and started the second with his fourth (16:28) and fifth (1:21) goals of the season. Ethan Christofferson split the pipes just 27 seconds later to make it 4-0.

Louko made it 5-0 with the man-advantage at 7:46 and then Brett Robinson netted his first of the season at 9:17 for a 6-0 lead. The second period wrapped up with a Jones shot into the back of the net at 17:41 and the Lions led 7-0.

Vijuk completed his hat trick at the 6:43 mark of the third, followed by a McClellan score at 7:16. Robinson wrapped up the offensive efforts on the power play at 13:22.
Easton Portner earned three assists in the contest to lead Lindenwood. Zachary Schwartz, Meers, Robinson, and Greeley each had two assists. Louko, Maupin, Hart, Gavin Delfosse, Christofferson, and Jones each had one helper as the team combined for 17 assists in the game.

The Lions outshot Missouri 58 to 18 and Justin Grenon stopped all 18 shots he faced to earn the shutout win.

Lindenwood improved to 8-0 for the season. After an idle weekend, the Lions host three different opponents November 7-9. Schoolcraft College comes to town for a 9 p.m. faceoff that Friday, followed by the University of Denver at 9 p.m. Saturday. The weekend wraps up against Ohio University on Sunday with the puck drop at 1 p.m. All three games will take place at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.