Photo by Brenden Burns
Tatiana Blichova battles a RIT player against the boards.
It was an incredible weekend for the Lindenwood Women’s Hockey team. The Lions took over Centene Community Ice Center with an incredible weekend sweep over RIT, outscoring the Tigers 11-3 and showing grit, depth, and explosive offense all weekend.
After the weekend sweep, the Lions are sitting in third place in the AHA standings with 30 conference points, and they sit one point ahead of RIT and two points ahead of Syracuse.
Friday night set the tone early with a 6-2 win over RIT. Despite falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Lions responded with authority. Tatiana Blichova was unstoppable, finishing the night with two goals and an assist, and Molly Henderson was right there with a goal and two assists of her own. Silje Gundersen added power and precision with a two-goal performance, giving them the spark they needed. The Lions controlled play all night, outshooting RIT 38-25 and converting on the power play while staying sharp on the penalty kill. By the time Gunderson slammed home the empty netter with 36 seconds left, it was clear this team was ready to roll.
Lindenwood didn’t stop there.
Saturday after was just as strong for cancer awareness night. Lindenwood closed out the afternoon with a 5-1 win and a series sweep. Scoring early was Page Cline on a breakaway, and Gundersen buried a power-play goal to extend the Lions lead. Although RIT pulled within one, Lindenwood responded with a dominant third period. Zsofia Pazmandi took over with two huge goals in the third period and Ellie Muscedere was the flame, racking up four assists. Lexington Secreto stood as a wall in net for the Lions, making 32 saves for the Lions to score Saturday’s win and series sweep.
The sweep wasn’t just goals; it was about timing. Special teams were a difference maker all weekend, the forwards creating opportunities at each end of the ice, and the defense kept the pressure off Lexington when it mattered most.
This weekend the Lions face #4 Penn State on Friday Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. for senior night. Both games will be taking place at Centene Community Ice Center.
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