The Lions hosted the St. Thomas Tommies this past weekend at Centene Community Ice Center, looking to extend their seven-game winning streak. Tensions were very high in the first game between these two teams. The Lions opened the scoring in the first at 17:50 on a power play goal by Gage Vierzba. The assists went to both Zac Maupin and Chase McClellan to make it 1-0 Lions. The Lions outshot the Tommies 16-12 in the first.
Early on in the second, at 1:57 the Lions would score again, thanks to Maupin, while Jake Lange and Trent Sylvester would get credit for the assists. The Lions would not score again in the second, but a 15-minute power play they earned due to a Tommies major spearing penalty allowed the Lions 20 shots on goal in the second, while the Tommies could only muster up four shots in the period.
At 5:39 in the third period, Gavin Delfosse would make it 3-0 Lions with a goal. Brett Robinson and Zachary Schwartz set up that goal. Around the eight-minute mark, Austin Meers would score on the power play to make it 4-0 Lions, while Robinson and Delfosse picked up assists on that goal. Then very soon after at 8:31, the Lions would score their final goal of the game to make it 5-0. Shane Ziegler would get the goal, assisted by both Carter Walby and Maupin. The Lions outshot the Tommies 16-7 in the third period and 52-23 for the game.
Lions goalie Cole Wheaton continued his great season stopping all 23 Tommies shots for his second shutout in a row and the third in a row for the Lions as a team. Wheaton improved to 4-0-0 on the season with a GAA of 0.75 and an SV% of .958
Game two of the weekend saw another 55 minutes of penalties handed out, as well as plenty more offense. Late in the first period on the power play, the Lions would score first. The goal was scored by Nick Jones, assisted by Delfosse and Robinson. The Tommies outshot the Lions 9-7 in the first period, but the Lions went into the second with the lead.
Both sides of the special teams were really good for the Lions because at 10:03 of the second, the Lions would score a shorthanded goal. Eli Roofe would score that goal, assisted by McClellan and Meers. Then at 16:40 of the second period, Michael Mullen would score, assisted by Jacob Behnen to make it 3-0. Both teams had 11 shots each in the second period.
At eight minutes in the third period, the Lions’ long shutout streak came to an end with a goal by Austin Stoneking of the Tommies. At 13:32, the Lions would get that goal back with a power play marker by Walby assisted by Vierzba and Maupin. The last goal for the Lions was scored at 16:20 by Jack Louko, assisted by McClellan and Vierzba. The Lions won the game by a score of 5-1, and outshot the Tommies 12-8 in the third and 30-28 for the game. Lions goalie Justin Grenon stopped 27 of 28 shots that he faced in the win.
With the sweep of the weekend, the Lions improved to 11-1 on the season and are currently in the midst of a nine game winning streak. The Lions will have their sights set on Nov. 8th and 9th, when they take Liberty University at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
