Men's ACHA DII ice hockey earned its first victory of 2026, topping Miami (Ohio) 7-3 Friday night at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Despite the final margin, the Lions didn't take the lead for good until the second half of the contest. The Redhawks opened scoring with an unassisted effort at the 4:12 mark of the first. Lindenwood countered just over 10 minutes later when
Grant Fowlkes fed
Gage Vierzba at 14:23. Miami regained the lead just before the end of the period with a power play goal at 19:46 after the Lions were called for roughing 12 seconds earlier. The Redhawks outshot Lindenwood 16-7 and carried a 2-1 advantage into the first intermission.
The tide changed in a big way in the second period with the Lions scoring four straight goals, including a flurry of three in a span of 68 seconds. Vierzba netted his second of the game off a pass from
Chase McClellan at 3:51 to knot the score at 2-2. Lindenwood took the lead for good after
Ethan Christofferson sounded the horn at 14:06 with help from
Austin Meers and
Jack Louko. Just 23 seconds later, Vierzba completed his hat trick on a play set up by Fowlkes and
Jake Lange to make it 4-2. The final tally of the period came off the blade of
Brock Hart at 15:14, assisted by Zach Maupin, giving Lindenwood a 5-2 advantage.
The Lions increased their lead to 6-2 early in the third when Lange stole the puck and scored his first of the season, unassisted at 5:59. The third goal of the game for the Redhawks came on the power play. After Lindenwood was called for tripping at 11:18, Miami put the puck in the back of the net 13 seconds later to cut the deficit to 6-3. The Lions countered three minutes later when Meers scored his eighth goal of the season unassisted at 14:57 to make it 7-3.
After being outshot by a large margin early, Lindenwood finished with a 35-33 advantage in shots on goal for the game.
Jordan Behnen stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced to earn the victory for the Lions. The Redhawks scored on each of the two power plays they received while Lindenwood went scoreless on six man-advantage chances.
With the win, the Lions improved to 20-0 for the season and extended their winning streak to 27 games dating back to the end of the 2024-25 campaign. They will seek a sweep against Miami Saturday afternoon with the opening faceoff set for 2:40 p.m. at the Centene Community Ice Center.
