MADELINE RAINERI | Reporter
The Lindenwood men’s ice hockey team will go on the road this weekend for its final games of the year.
The Lions will play at the Illinois Ice Arena against the University of Illinois on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2.
The two teams met previously in the season at the Wentzville Ice Arena on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28.
The Lions split the series with the Illini with a 4-3 win in shootouts in the Friday night game and a 1-3 loss in the second game.
The first game saw two goals from defenseman Aapo Nurminen, a goal from forward Jordan Klimovsky and the game-winning goal from forward Alex Kalau during shootouts.
Kalau had the single Lions goal in the Saturday game as well according to the ACHA official website.
Despite the Lions’ losses against Ohio University before Thanksgiving break, they are going into this weekend’s series with a solid hold on the third place in the ACHA with a 13-3-3 record. The Illini have a 5-4-1 record and sit six spots behind the Lions.
Freshman forward Caleb Ernst said he’s feeling good going into the games this weekend.
“The break was good for us after our loss to Ohio in a sense for us to recover and regroup as a team,” he said. “These games should be very close and tight after splitting them early in the season, but I think the guys are ready to strap it down for these big away games.”
The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. both nights, and the games are available to be streamed on YouTube.
