From Lindenwood University Athletics
After 5-3 win over Drury University Saturday night, men’s ACHA Division II ice hockey fell to the Panthers 4-1 Sunday afternoon for a split of the series at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
The Lions doubled Drury in shots 54-27 in the finale, but the Panthers made the most of their pucks on net. After most of the opening period went scoreless, a Lindenwood tripping penalty led to a Drury powerplay goal with just two-seconds left in the first.
The Lions continued to pepper the opposing net-minder with shots, and that pressure paid off early in the second when Ryan Granville sounded the horn on a play set up by Steve Avalone and Gage Vierzba at 3:29, but that goal proved to be the only one that Lindenwood would get in the contest.
The Panthers added two even-strength efforts, one in the late stages of the middle frame and the second coming about seven-minutes into the third. Trailing 3-1, the Lions pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, but Drury sealed the game with an empty-netter at the 18:02 mark.
Cade Kujawski stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced in a losing effort for Lindenwood. The Lions went 0/2 on the power play while giving up one goal to the Panthers in four, man-advantage chances.
It turned out to be the Austin Meers show in the series opener as the Lindenwood freshman scored three straight in about 20-minutes of game time from the middle of the second to the middle of third to give the Lions a 4-2 lead, but it was Chase McClellan who put Lindenwood on the board first at 16:32 of the opening period with help from Eli Roofe and Jacob Behnen. A boarding penalty gave Drury a power play late in the first and the Panthers capitalized to tie the game 1-1.
Meers sounded the horn for the first goal of his hat trick at 9:44 of the second on a play set up by Logan Millhausen and McClellan, but the 2-1 advantage was short-lived as Drury tied it again just over two-minutes later.
It remained 2-2 for the rest of the period and the opening moments of the third until Meers struck again at 4:30, assisted by Stanley Lucas and Sam Watson. The Panthers had a chance to tie the contest once again after a Lions high-sticking call, but Meers pulled off what might have been the play of the game when he stole the puck and darted down the ice for a shorty and his 12th goal of the season at 9:15 to make it 4-2 Lindenwood.
DU did ultimately convert the power play to pull within a goal, but that was as close as the Panthers would get the rest of the game. After Drury was called for elbowing late in the period, Lucas sealed the contest with a power play goal at 16:30 with help from Avalone and Watson.
The Lions outshot the Panthers 48-16 and Ethan Paulin-Hatch stopped 13 of the 16 shots he faced to earn the victory in goal for Lindenwood. The Lions went 1/7 on the power play while giving up two goals to Drury on six, man-advantage chances.
With the split, Lindenwood improved to 24-9 on the season. The Lions host Marian (Wisc.) University in a two-game series February 3-4. The puck drops at 7:45 p.m. Saturday night and again at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Centene Community Ice Center.
(Originally published at https://lindenwoodlions.com/news/2024/1/28/mens-ice-hockey-acha-dii-mens-acha-d2-hockey-splits-series-with-drury.aspx)
