After ending the previous season on a sour note with a first round exit from the American Collegiate Hockey League Division I Men's National Championship, the Lions were looking to start fresh this year, but those hopes were temporarily thwarted in the home opener with a 6-4 loss to Adrian Friday night at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.

While the Lions outshot the Bulldogs in the first period 12-3, they trailed 2-1 due to a couple of power play goals, one of them a four-on-three effort.  In between those scores, Kevin Walters cashed in the first goal of the season for Lindenwood off an assist from Tobias Nasgarde.

The Lions tied the game 2-2 in the second when Daniel Rosse fed Rock Einersen and the momentum appeared to be shifting in favor of Lindenwood, but two late period goals from Adrian left the Lions trailing 4-2 at the end of the second.

An early power play from the Bulldogs increased that margin to 5-2 before Mike Lozano earned his first collegiate career goal for Lindenwood with help from Riley Spraggs and Brandon Rumble.  Adrian was not fazed and continued to press and capitalized with another score for a 6-3 lead.  With time a factor against the Lions, Jake Fairchild split the pipes for his first collegiate goal off an assist by Stephen Bopp, but that was as close as Lindenwood would get before the end of the game.

Special teams might have been the difference as the Lions outshot Adrian 36-32, but went 0-5 on the power play while the Bulldogs were 3-5.  Cody Karpinski stopped 26 of 32 shots in a losing effort.

Lindenwood will try to split the series when they return to the ice against Adrian later this afternoon.  The puck drops at 4 p.m. at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.