Men's ACHA DII ice hockey used a strong third period to hold off the University of Arkansas in a 5-3 win Thursday night at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The Lions jumped out to a two-goal lead in the opening period only to see the Razorbacks come back to tie the contest. The action started right away when Lindenwood was called for elbowing just nine seconds into the first. With Arkansas on the power play,
Austin Meers took possession of the puck and set up
Logan Millhausen for a shorty at the 21-second mark, his first goal of the season. The Lions killed off that penalty and then earned went on the power play after a tripping call against the Razorbacks. Just 10-seconds into the man-advantage,
Gavin Delfosse sounded the horn on a play set up by Zach Maupin and
Chase McClellan at 3:28 to give Lindenwood the 2-0 lead.
Arkansas countered later in the frame, taking advantage of a Lions penalty with a power play goal at 11:49. That made it 2-1 Lindenwood and that score remained into the first intermission.
The Razorbacks came with intention early in the second and quickly tied the game on an even-strength play at the 2:00 mark. The two teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the period, but neither could score.
The Lions finally gained some breathing room in the opening minutes of the third.
Jack Louko split the pipes on a play set up by
Nick Jones and McClellan at 6:28. Moments later,
Brett Robinson stole the puck and scored his ninth of the season, unassisted at 7:34 to give Lindenwood a 4-2 lead. A contact to the head penalty gave Arkansas a chance to get back in the game, and the Razorbacks capitalized with a power play goal at 15:51 to cut their deficit to just one.
As they pressed to find the equalizer, they pushed physical play just a bit too far and were called for cross-checking at 17:31. As Arkansas was killing it off, they also pulled their goaltender after gaining possession of the puck. After some zone time from the Razorbacks, they eventually gave up the puck and that allowed McClellan to score a power play, empty net goal, assisted by
Ethan Christofferson and
Easton Portner at 19:12.
The Lions outshot Arkansas 47-27 and
Justin Grenon stopped 24 of the 27 pucks he faced to earn the win in goal.
With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 22-0 for the 2025-26 campaign. After a few days off, the Lions will put that streak on the line once again when they travel to Chesterfield, Missouri to face Maryville on January 18. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Maryville Ice Center.
