After giving up the tying goal with less than a minute left in regulation, and playing a scoreless overtime, men's ice hockey earned a dramatic 3-2 win in a shootout over top ranked Arizona State Saturday afternoon at the Lindenwood Ice Arena.
After winning the first game of the series Friday night, the Sun Devils took an early lead midway through the first period and then clamped down on defense. The Lions were held scoreless for over 29 minutes of clock time before finding the equalizer at the 19:02 mark of the second when Jake Fairchild set up Kevin Walters.
Lindenwood took a 2-1 lead with 9:14 remaining in the third on a Rock Einersen goal from Mike Lozano and Adam Newkirk, and the Lions were poised for the upset, but Arizona State pulled the goalie as time ran down and with six attackers, stunned the partisan crowd with the tying tally only 34 seconds from the final horn, sending the contest into overtime.
The late goal gave the Sun Devils some energy, but Lindenwood was able to contain it for the extra five minute session, setting up a winner-take-all shootout. After an Arizona State miss on the first attempt, Lozano missed for the Lions, but the second shot for the Sun Devils was also off the mark. Walters had a chance to give Lindenwood a lead, but he couldn't find the back of the net either. With initial shots dwindling, Michael Hails stopped the third effort from ASU, giving Brandon Rumble the next moment in the spotlight, and he delivered with the game-winner.
The Sun Devils outshot the Lions 39-31, but Hails turned away 37 of the 39 shots he saw to earn the win in goal for Lindenwood. With the victory, the Lions improved to 12-10-2, and created a rare blemish on the Arizona State record for this season.
Lindenwood wraps up its regular season home schedule with a series against Davenport January 23-24. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday night and again at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo. Both games can be seen via pay-per-view live streaming at
STL Sports Productions.
