MADELINE RAINERI | Reporter
Lindenwood’s men’s ice hockey re-met the University of Oklahoma Sooners this weekend at the Wentzville Ice Arena and swept the series again after beating them twice in September to begin the season.
FRIDAY OCT. 20
Friday night’s game at 7 p.m. started scoreless for both teams in the first period. During the second, the Lions scored the only four goals of the game, with the last three occurring in less than 73 seconds, according to Lindenwood Student Life Sports.
Lindenwood’s first goal of the game came from sophomore forward Jordan Klimovsky, who also scored in the last matchup against Oklahoma. The goal was assisted by Tommy Heinzman and Jake Townsend. Almost 12 minutes later in the second period, junior forward Townsend scored his own goal with assistance from Matt Runyon and Hayden Dawes. Less than 27 seconds after, freshman forward Dom Kolbeins scored his first collegiate goal off of a pass from Victor Lombardi.
Just seconds after the third goal, Klimovsky scored the fourth and final goal of the game with assists from Alexander Carlsson and Mike Lozano.
The Lions held off the Sooners until the third period when they scored a single power play goal, making the final score 4-1 in favor of Lindenwood. Shots on goal ended at 52-25 with Lindenwood having more than double the shots on goal the Sooners had.
SATURDAY OCT. 21
On Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., the Lions met the Sooners again at the Wentzville Ice Arena.
Just 24 seconds into the first period, forward senior Alexander Carlsson scored the first goal of the game with assistance from Austin Wilk and Klimovsky. At the 2:32 mark, senior forward Brad Edwards found the net with Caleb Ernst and Townsend getting the assists. Two minutes later, Kolbeins scored his second collegiate goal and second goal of the weekend. Townsend had his second assist of the game and third of the weekend, with Hayden Dawes also getting his second assist of the weekend. At 18:53, Michael Lozano concluded the first period’s scoring with assists from Townsend and Dawes again.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”Jordan Klimovsky, forward ” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”For myself, I felt really good, like everything was bouncing my way. For the team, we played the way we should have and improved each game, getting better and better each period.”[/perfectpullquote]
The Lions continued to hold off the Sooners going 4-0 into the second period and Tommy Heinzman initiated scoring in the second period at 2:50, Ernst and Edwards had the assists. Freshman defenseman Hunter Ruschmeyer scored the second goal in the second period, bringing the score to 6-0 entering the third period. Klimovsky had his second assist of the game, and Cade Owad found his first assist in this weekend’s matchup.
Senior defenseman Brett Bauza scored the seventh goal of the game during the third period with Ruschmeyer and Heinzman on the assist. Three minutes later, Ernst scored the eighth and final goal of the game with help from Matt Runyon and Ruschmeyer. The Lions swept the series with a combined 12 goals in the two games and advanced to a 9-0-2 record for the 2017-2018 season. Lindenwood had 42 shots on goal compared to the Sooners’ 19, according to the ACHA website.
“For myself, I felt really good, like everything was bouncing my way,” Klimovsky said. “For the team, we played the way we should have and improved each game, getting better and better each period.”
Lindenwood will play the University of Illinois at the Wentzville Ice Arena next weekend, puck dropping at 7 p.m. Friday and at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
