Women's ACHA ice hockey dropped a pair of games over the weekend on the road against Miami University (Ohio). The Lions fell 5-2 in the series opener on Friday, then were on the short end of a 5-1 score Saturday at the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio.
Despite the three-goal loss, Lindenwood was in the first game until the third period and even held a lead early in the contest. After the Redhawks scored at the 1:41 mark of the opening period, the Lions countered with the first goal of the season from
Kailey Keller off a feed from
Ava Bilton at 5:13. Miami was called for interference seconds later giving Lindenwood a power play. Keller and Mackenzie Cameron set up Bilton who found the back of the net at 6:51 to give the Lions a 2-1 advantage. It lasted just over four minutes until the Redhawks tied the game at 11:08. The score remained knotted at 2-2 through the rest of the first and into the intermission.
Miami made a goalie change to begin the second and it proved to be a solid move as Lindenwood was held scoreless the rest of the way. The Redhawks took the lead for good just 24 seconds into the period and held the 3-2 advantage into the second intermission. They added two more goals in the third at 5:16 and 6:51 to seal the deal.
Miami outshot the Lions 40-37 and
Erica Didocha stopped 35 of 40 to take the loss in goal. After the change at netminder, the Redhawks stopped all 24 Lindenwood shots on goal in the final 40 minutes.
The Lions couldn't mount as much offense in the second game of the series on Saturday, partly due to spending 16 minutes in the penalty box. While Miami didn't capitalize on the man-advantage chances, it tilted the ice in favor of the Redhawks and put Lindenwood in a deep hole. After two goals in the first at 1:18 and 4:54, Miami added another at 2:41 of the second and led 3-0 before the Lions could counter with their only tally of the contest. Bilton set up
Devyn Doti at 7:45 to cut the margin down to two, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
The Redhawks scored two more in the period at 10:54 and 11:31 to build a 5-1 lead into the second intermission. With no scoring in the third, that proved to be the final margin.
Miami outshot Lindenwood 39-26 and Didocha stopped 34 of 39 in the loss.
The Lions are now 0-19-1 on the season. They hit the road to Tempe, Arizona for their longest trip of the year. Lindenwood will play four games in four days February 5-8. The Lions face Arizona State University on Thursday at 10:15 p.m. CST and on Friday at 5 p.m. CST. In somewhat neutral site affair, Lindenwood takes on Grand Canyon University at 8 p.m. CST on Saturday and at 2 p.m. CST on Sunday. All four games will be played at the Laramie Ice and Event Center.
