Game One
The Lindenwood Lions men’s ice hockey team won 5-0 against the Stonehill Skyhawks in a two-game series at the Centene Community Ice Center on Nov. 22.
In the first 90 seconds of the game, the Skyhawks won the opening faceoff, immediately putting the pressure on the Lions.
Early on, Lions forward Kristof Papp almost made the game 1-0 in favor of the Lions, but his shot was saved by Skyhawks goaltender Connor Androlewicz.
“I like to play five on five,” Lindenwood men’s ice hockey head coach Bill Muckalt said. “We got people and pucks to the net and got rewarded for it.”
As time winded down in the opening period, the Lions continued putting pressure on the Skyhawks. The Lions created multiple scoring chances, but were unsuccessful. The Skyhawks tried to stop the Lions momentum, but the Lions were just one step ahead. Despite not getting a lot of scoring chances, the Skyhawks were able to push through the Lions offense for a short moment before the Lions regained the puck. It was then that Lindenwood managed to get the first goal of the game, scored by Ty Hipkins. Initially, the goal went to video review as the net was off its moorings, but the call on the ice stood as a goal. Shortly after the Hipkins goal, the Lions scored again to make the game 2-0 as Jake Southgate sounded the buzzer.
“That’s how we generated offensively,” Muckalt said.
In the second period, after the Lions killed off their second penalty of the game, they seemed to find their footing a tad, but the Skyhawks momentum seemed to overwhelm the Lions. As soon as the Lions got the puck, the Skyhawks continued their pressure on the Lions still vying for their first goal of the game, but all shots on goal were either blocked by goalie Owen Bartoszkiewicz.
As time winded in the second period, the Lions momentum on the Skyhawks continued as the Lions extended their lead, as the third Lions goal was scored by Ethan Zielke.
Despite having a slow start to the second period, the Lions managed to find their footing as they scored their fourth goal of the game. The goal was scored by Artyom Borshyov, as Lindenwood lead the Skyhawks 4-0 going into the third period.
After a bit of time away from scoring, time winded down in the third period, and the momentum all game for the Lions seemed to pay off for the Lions. The frustrated Skyhawks drew another penalty, as the Lions went to another power play, leading to another Lions goal. The fifth Lions goal of the night was scored by David Gagnon.
By the time the third period ended, the score remained 5-0. The shutout win was Bartoszkiewicz’s first in NCAA play.
“We got great goaltending,” Muckalt said. “He made some big saves in critical times.” – Caleb Woods
Game Two
In the second game of the series, Lindenwood wasn’t able to hold on for the sweep despite taking an early lead, dropping the game to Stonehill by a final score of 3-1 after a lackluster third period of play.
In the first period, with three minutes left to play until the first intermission, it was Brody Mortensen who found the back of the net for the opening score of the game. It was Mortensen’s second goal of the season, and his first since early November against Robert Morris University. Mortensen’s goal was assisted by a pair of Lions, Tyler Loughman and Brady Yakesh. The Lions were able to take eight shots on the net in the opening period of play, with just the one getting through the Stonehill goalie. As for Lindenwood, they saw the Skyhawks take 10 shots on goal, with Bartoszkiewicz stopping all of them.
The second period of play saw both team enter a scoring lull, with neither team finding the back of the net in what became a defensive showcase. Lindenwood only mustered three shots on goal for the entire period, while Stonehill took 11, with Bartoszkiewicz again stopping each of them.
Stonehill would rally in the third period, scoring all three of their goals in the final 10 minutes of play to complete the come from behind victory. Right at the halfway mark of the period, Devlin O’Brien found the back of the net on an unassisted goal to tie the game. Nearly seven minutes later, the Skyhawks would take the lead, as Anthony Galante scored an unassisted goal of his own to make the score 2-1. A minute and a half late, Cole Melady would score one last time for the visiting team, again unassisted, making the score 3-1, where it went final two minutes later. In the period, the Lions took nine shots on goal, giving them 20 total for the game. As for Stonehill, they took 14 shots in the period, with Bartoszkiewicz stopping 11. The Skyhawks took 32 shots on goal throughout the entirety of the game.
The team now heads out on the road to play Michigan State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha over the course of the next two weeks. They return home just after the new year to play the University of St. Thomas on Jan. 3 and Jan 4. Those games will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. respectively, and will be hosted at the Centene Community Ice Center, per usual. – Josh Calloni
