After playing Central Oklahoma evenly for 60 minutes, men's ice hockey gave up the game-winning goal just seconds into overtime Saturday night in a 6-5 loss at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.
Despite the ultimate outcome, the Lions started quickly against the Bronchos, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Riley Spraggs started the scoring just 92 seconds into the game when he fired a shot home off a pass from Mike Lozano. Lozano scored the next goal for Lindenwood with 13:57 remaining. Adam Newkirk and Stephen Bopp earned the assists on the play, but the Lions offense fell silent after that, failing to score for the next 40 minutes of game time. That allowed Central Oklahoma to mount a comeback.
The Bronchos scored with 11:45 remaining in the first, added another goal early in the second on a power play, and took the lead with 7:40 remaining in the period. Lindenwood head coach Rick Zombo opted to pull starting goalie Michael Hails at that point, replacing him with Cody Karpinski. After Central Oklahoma capitalized on a penalty shot with 15:23 left in the third, the Bronchos held a 4-2 advantage.
It was then time for the Lions to mount their own comeback. Lozano earned his third point of the evening when he set up Daniel Rosse for a shot that found the back of the net. Moments later, Graham Zagrodney lit the lamp for his first collegiate career goal at the 10:37 mark with help from Jake Fairchild and Lozano. Lindenwood took a 5-4 lead just 90 seconds later on a power play goal from Lukas Daniels. Rock Einersen and Kevin Walters earned the assists on the play.
It looked like the Lions might be in position to win their first game of the season, but a penalty call led to a Central Oklahoma power play and the game-tying goal with 6:19 remaining in regulation. Defense reigned supreme for the rest of the third period, but the Bronchos scored the game-winner just 17 seconds into overtime.
Lozano led the Lindenwood offense with two goals and two assists. Hails stopped 16 of 19 shots before being relieved by Karpinski, who stopped 13 of the 16 shots he faced.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-2-1. They'll go for a series split and try once again for their first win of the season when they face Central Oklahoma Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.
Earlier in the week, the first regular season Men's Division I Ranking was released by the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The top 14 positions remained unchanged from the pre-season poll, but the Lions dropped from 15
th to 16
th after being swept by Adrian in the season-opening series. Arizona State received all 29 first place votes to stay at the top, followed by Robert Morris (Ill.), Stony Brook, Oklahoma, and Iowa State.
| 2014-2015 ACHA Men's Division 1 Ranking #1 |
| Rank | School Name | 1st Votes | Record | Pts | Previous |
| 1 | Arizona State | 29 | 2-0-0 | 625 | 1 |
| 2 | Robert Morris (IL) | | 2-0-0 | 579 | 2 |
| 3 | Stony Brook | | 0-0-0 | 574 | 3 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | | 1-1-0 | 559 | 4 |
| 5 | Iowa State | | 1-1-0 | 502 | 5 |
| 6 | Minot State | | 2-0-0 | 496 | 6 |
| 7 | Liberty | | 1-0-1 | 459 | 7 |
| 8 | Central Oklahoma | | 2-0-0 | 447 | 8 |
| 9 | Ohio | | 2-0-0 | 439 | 9 |
| 10 | Adrian | | 2-0-0 | 391 | 10 |
| 11 | Delaware | | 0-0-0 | 361 | 11 |
| 12 | Navy | | 1-1-0 | 345 | 12 |
| 13 | Davenport | | 0-0-0 | 333 | 13 |
| 14 | Oakland | | 2-0-0 | 299 | 14 |
| 15 | Illinois | | 3-0-0 | 260 | 16 |
| 16 | Lindenwood | | 0-2-0 | 256 | 15 |
| 17 | Rhode Island | | 2-0-0 | 251 | 17 |
| 18 | Arizona | | 0-0-0 | 206 | 18 |
| 19 | Buffalo | | 2-0-0 | 147 | 19 |
| 20 | Niagara | | 1-2-0 | 131 | 20 |
| 21 | Mercyhurst | | 1-1-0 | 126 | 21 |
| 22 | Rutgers | | 0-0-0 | 81 | 22 |
| 23 | John Carroll | | 0-2-0 | 71 | 23 |
| 24 | West Virginia | | 0-0-0 | 43 | 24 |
| 25 | Michigan-Dearborn | | 4-0-0 | 35 | 25 |
.
Others receiving votes: Colorado State, Lebanon Valley, Syracuse, Colorado, and Rochester College.
