Lindenwood’s Division 1 Roller Hockey team defeated their long-time conference rival, the Bethel University Wildcats 6-3 on Saturday, Oct. 21.
The Lions came out strong with a goal early in the first period by senior Nathan Durrans. Followed by another goal shortly after by junior Parker Winkelmann. It didn’t take long for things to get chippy on the rink and Lindenwood received a penalty for slashing.
Despite being at a disadvantage, senior Jackson Wozniak scored a short handed goal to stretch the Lion’s lead to 3-0.
“I think for us we always feel bad taking penalties,” Wozniak said about his short handed goal. “We don’t want to ever feel like we are letting our teammates down and that goal was a way to let our teammate in the penalty box know that we had his back and we were going to kill this penalty for him and move forward from that.”
The remainder of the first period was scoreless, but Bethel did not give up. Just fifteen seconds into the second period, Bethel scored to make it 3-1. While the Wildcats had a spark of hope to start the second, their momentum was swiftly halted.
“We bounce back right away, we’re pretty easy to forget about things like that, and we go get it back right away the next shift,” Winkelmann said after Bethel’s first goal to start the second period.
Wozniak scored again and answered back for the Lions less than two minutes after the Wildcats goal making it 4-1. Just over one minute after the Lion’s fourth goal, junior Clayton Liefeld scored to put Lindenwood at a comfortable four goal lead. For the remainder of the second period the Lions displayed great puck control on the rink, but they could not find the back of the net again until the third period.
Winkelmann scored his second goal just under five minutes into the third period to take Lindenwood’s lead to 6-1. Bethel fought hard during this period, but their efforts did not pay off until very late in the third period. With forty-two seconds left in the game, the Wildcats scored to make it 6-2. They scored again with only thirteen seconds left in the game. The final score was 6-3 Lindenwood.
The Lions played the Wildcats one more time over the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 22. This game showcased elite goaltending from Lindenwood senior Chase Christopher as he earned a shut out for himself and the win for his team. Lindenwood beat Bethel by a score of 6-0.
Lindenwood D1 Roller hockey plays next on the weekend of Nov. 18. at their home rink, Midwest Sport Hockey, located in Manchester, Missouri. Game times are still to be determined.
