complete game notes in .pdf format

Storyline
Lindenwood resumes play this week and jumps right back into the fire against two tough opponents.

On Wednesday, the Lady Lions have a single game against North Dakota. North Dakota is ranked among the top six of NCAA Division I teams in both major polls. The contest will be Lindenwood's final game against a nationally-ranked Division I program.

Over the weekend, Lindenwood has two games against Concordia College. The Cobbers are nationally-ranked at the NCAA Division III level.

Last Time Out
Lindenwood played a two-game series against Mercyhurst last time out, its final games against members of its future conference, College Hockey America.

In the first game, Lindenwood tired late in periods in a 9-0 loss. Only one goal was scored in the second half of a period.

In the second game, the Lady Lions fell in a 5-0 first-period hole. Lindenwood played even with the Lakers the rest of the way in a 7-2 loss.

Rookies Scoring
Lindenwood's top-three point scorers and four of its top five are all freshmen. Seventy-five percent of the team's goals and 73.3 percent of the team's assists have come from rookies.

Alison Wickenheiser leads the offense with six goals, 12 assists, and 18 points. If Lindenwood was eligible for NCAA Division I statistics, she would ranked seventh in points per game among rookies.

The next two top scoring threats for Lindenwood are freshmen Alyssa West and Caitlyn Post. West is second with six assists and nine points, and Post is second with five goals and tied for third with seven points.

Goalkeeping Numbers
Taylor Fairchild improved her goalkeeping numbers the second time around against Mercyhurst. In the first series, she had a .854 save percentage. In the most recent series versus the nationally-ranked Lakers, her save percentage was .894.

In her last five games, Fairchild has saved over 90 percent of the shots she has faced, and she has a 5.44 GAA.

Staying Out of the Box
Over the last four games, Lindenwood is allowing opponents just 3.75 power-play opportunities a game. In the first 15 games, the team was allowing over five power plays a game.

Special Teams Play
Mercyhurst is the No. 1 combined special teams in NCAA Division I, but Lindenwood nearly played even with them in its recent series.

The Lady Lions were two-of-eight on the power play in the series, compared to three-of-eight for Mercyhurst. In the final game, Lindenwood scored two power-play goals and did not allow any.

Vs. Like Teams
Lindenwood is 0-5-0 this season versus members of the WCHA, and 1-1-0 against NCAA Division III programs.

Vs. Ranked Teams
Lindenwood is no stranger to playing ranked NCAA Division I programs. The Lady Lions have played seven games this season against schools ranked in the most recent rankings.

The Lady Lions will be facing a ranked NCAA Division III program for the first time.

About UND
North Dakota is 12-7-1 on the season against one of the toughest schedules in NCAA Division I. It has played 10 games against ranked teams and is 3-6-1 in those contests. North Dakota is tough at home with a 8-2-0 mark.

North Dakota is sixth in NCAA Division I with over four goals a game, and ranks in the top ten in power play and penalty kill.

North Dakota is led offensively by Jocelyne Lamoureux who has 16 goals and 28 assists. Monique Lamoureux-Kolls and Michelle Karvinen each have 13 goals. Stephanie Ney is 8-5-1 in goal with a 2.91 GAA and a .894 save percentage.

Head coach of North Dakota is Brian Idalski. He is in his fifth season at the school and has a 57-85-18 record there, and a 165-106-29 career mark.

About the Cobbers
Concordia enters the Lindenwood series with a 7-1-1 overall record, including a 3-0-1 mark at home. The Cobbers are ranked 10th at the NCAA Division III level and have won five straight games.

Concordia averages over four goals a game and has scored on 31 percent of its power-play opportunities. It is allowing 2.7 goals a game.

The trio of Katelyn Dold, Breann Julius, and Abby Taffe are all averaging over a point a game. They have combined for 20 goals and 19 assists. Tamara Twite is 5-1-1 in goal, has a 2.55 GAA, and a .893 save percentage.

Head coach of the Cobbers is Brett Bruininks. He is in his second season and has a record of 22-9-5.

Up Next
Lindenwood will return to Minnesota next week for three games. The Lady Lions will face Bethel twice and St. Olaf once.