MADELINE RAINERI | Reporter 

This Friday, the Division I men’s ice hockey team is looking forward to its annual exhibition game against the North America Hockey League’s Springfield Junior Blues at the Nelson Center in Springfield, Illinois.

The Lions are searching for success against the Junior Blues after falling 4-3 last year in the exhibition game.

The game is played each year as a “preseason tune-up” to judge the talent on the team and adjust accordingly.

Junior forward Alex Kalau said, “The preseason game against Springfield is always a good assessment of ourselves as a team as we approach the regular season, and it gives the boys a chance to get back to game speed.”

The exhibition game will also offer an opportunity to evaluate the new freshman talent which the team gained after a number of seniors graduated in the spring.

Depending on the results of Friday’s game, the Lions will have two weeks of preparation before its regular season opening games the weekend of Sept. 22-24 on the road against the University of Oklahoma and Missouri State University.

Puck drop is at 9 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively, on Friday and Saturday night at the Blazers Ice Centre in Oklahoma City.

A late afternoon game will be played with puck drop at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Mediacom Ice Plex in Springfield, Missouri.