The Lions fell in the final seconds to defending nation champion Minot State on Friday night at the MAYSA Arena. The game was the first of a two-game, non-conference series in North Dakota and the first meeting since the 2013 title game in March.

The Beavers opened scoring 4:20 into the first period on the power play. The Lions responded a few minutes later on another penalty kill when Peppi Sipila scored on a short-handed breakaway to tie the game 1-1 at the 11:14 mark of the period.

Lindenwood took over the momentum in the second period. Taylor Wolfe netted a goal on the power play to give the Lions the 2-1 lead with 13:10 left in the second frame. The Lions extended the margin when Brandon Rumble picked up a rebound and fired it past MSU goaltender Wyatt Waselenchuck for the power play tally.

The Beavers responded with increased intensity but starting goaltender Kirk Croswell was able to hold off the Minot State attack late in the second.

Minot State came out strong in the opening minutes of the third period. Minot State netted a goal on a partial breakaway with 11:15 to play to make it a one-goal game.

The Lions quickly responded when Daniel Rosse forced a turnover and scored to give Lindenwood a 4-2 lead.

Minot State answered with two quick goals to tie the game 4-4. The high-intensity game finally boiled over with the Beavers crashing the net and Croswell was handed a game misconduct penalty to force the Lions to go to their bench and bring in Linus Ahgren. The Lions defense and Ahgren held off the Beavers' attack on a seven-minute power play that saw five minutes of continuous pressure in the Lindenwood zone.

In the final minutes of the game, Lindenwood was called for another penalty to put the Beavers on a five-on-three advantage. The Beavers were finally able to beat the strong LU defense with 13 second remaining in regulation to earn a comeback victory over the Lions.

Croswell stopped 39 of 43 shots while Ahgren Stopped 13 of 14 shots in the loss. Lindenwood scored two power play goals on four opportunities while Minot State went two-for-seven on the man advantage. With the loss, the Lions fall to 3-4-0 on the season while Minot State improves to 5-0-0 in ACHA competition and 9-0-0 overall.

The two teams continue the heated series Saturday afternoon at the MAYSA Arena in Minot, N.D. at 2:00 p.m.