The Men’s D-II Hockey team traveled to Fort Myers, FL to take on Florida Gulf Coast University for a two-game set. The Lions came into this series with a record of 13-0-1 on the season and an 11-game win streak.
Game one of the series took place Friday night at Hertz Arena. The Eagles had a strong start to this game, taking the lead just over a minute into the opening period. The Eagles would go on to add another goal at 12:21 of the period, to take a 2-0 lead. However, on a five-on-three powerplay, the Lions would get on the board shortly after. Nick Jones would find the back of the net, assisted by Ryan Granville at 13:18. The Lions outshot the Eagles 17-10 in the opening period of play.
The second period saw the Eagles extend their lead with two power-play goals just seconds apart from one another, at 9:34 and 9:50. With those goals, the Eagles would lead 4-1 halfway through the second period. However, the Lions would get to their game and score a goal at 14:45 to make the score 4-2. The goal was scored by Zac Maupin assisted by both Gavin Delfosse and Granville. Then, at 15:57 Jones would net his second goal of the game assisted by Brett Robinson and Stanley Lucas. The Lions would tie the game and erase the three-goal deficit at 19:20 of the second. The game-tying goal was scored by Jones, and assisted by Chase McClellan and Jack Louko. The Lions would take the momentum of Jones’ hat trick into the third period of play. The Lions outshot the Eagles 22-17 in the second.
The third period began tied, but it did not stay that way for long. The Eagles would get a goal at 3:22 to take a 5-4 lead. However, at 6:10 the Lions would tie the game at five with a goal by Lucas, assisted by Austin Meers. In the final two minutes of the third, the Lions would score again and complete the comeback winning the game 6-5. The game-winning goal was scored by Jones, his fourth of the game and his 12th of the season. Robinson and Lucas would get the assists on the winning goal. The Eagles outshot the Lions 21-15 in the third.
The final shots on goal were 54-48 in favor of the Lions. Lions goalie Cole Wheaton continued his great play this season, stopping 43 of the 48 shots he faced in the win.
The second game of the series saw a total of 84 penalty minutes between the two teams. The first period saw the Lions score twice to take a 2-0 lead. The first goal was scored by Granville, assisted by Gage Vierzba and Anthony Tinsley at 4:39. The second goal was scored at 17:06 by Logan Millhausen, and assisted by Carter Walby and Tinsley. The Lions would take a 2-0 lead into the second period., and outshot the Eagles 11-7 in the opening period.
The Eagles would get a power play goal at 11:27 of the second period to get back into the game. At 14:51, the Lions would regain their two goal lead thanks to McClellan finding the back of the net, assisted by Jacob Behnen. Then at 18:52 the Eagles would get back to within one. Both teams had 10 shots on goal in the second period.
Going into the third, the Lions had a 3-2 lead, but it would not even last a minute into the period. The Eagles not only tied the game at 48 seconds, but also took the lead with a goal at 5:56. After a lot of penalties and physicality, the Lions would fall to the Eagles by a final of 4-3. The Eagles outshot the Lions 12-9 in the third, but the Lions outshot the Eagles 30-29 despite the loss. Lions goalie Wheaton stopped 25 of the 29 shots that he faced.
The second game of the series was the first regulation loss of the season for the Lions, and with that, they now sit with a record of 14-1-1 on the season. The Lions will look to bounce back next weekend when they take on the University of Kentucky Nov. 23rd and 24th at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
