The Lindenwood women's hockey team dropped a 3-1 final to the Syracuse Orange in a CHA conference showdown on Friday evening from Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.
 
Syracuse applied the pressure to open the contest taking advantage of sloppy defense by the Lady Lions in the early going. The Orange attack forced a Lindenwood hooking penalty at the 6:23 mark, Syracuse was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Despite giving up 14 first period shots, Lindenwood's goalie Jolene deBruyn held strong, turning away each Orange shot keeping the score 0-0 heading into the first intermission.
 
The Lady Lions came out in the second period playing aggressively. After an attack from Lindenwood and a save from Syracuse goalie Jenn Gilligan, the Orange took the puck down ice. Passes from Sibley to Leslie to Derrer made the score 1-0 in favor of the visiting team after the puck snuck by deBruyn. After giving up the goal, the Lady Lions kept up the pressure which would led to an Orange penalty and put Lindenwood on the power play. Able to get a shot through the defense and to Gilligan, the Lady Lions couldn't find the back of the net to even the score. Just a few minutes later, however, the pressure manifested itself in a goal as Britannia Gillanders tied the game at 1-1. For Gillanders, the score represented her second goal in as many games. Assists were credited to Rachel Weich and Carrie Atkinson with five minutes left in the second period. The Lady Lions and Orange remained deadlocked 1-1 as they left the ice for the second intermission.
 
Syracuse came out firing again early in the third period, but deBruyn continued to stand on her head knocking away 22 of the 23 shots she faced to that point. With the pressure still mounting, the Orange were able to put another puck past the freshman goalie when Melissa Piacentini scored her fifth of the season to give Syracuse a 2-1 lead six and a half minutes in to the final period. The Lady Lions had their chance to come back, but the Syracuse defense stood strong through 18 minutes. deBruyn was pulled in an attempt to even the score at two apiece, but the Orange won the faceoff in their zone which led to an empty-netter to seal the win for the visitors 3-1 in the first of two games on the weekend.
 
Shara Jasper led the Lady Lions in shots with seven, while defenseman Ally Larson blocked three shots.  The Orange outshot the Lindenwood 35-25, despite each team tying in shots in the final two periods. Each team killed a pair of penalties, with Lindenwood getting off a couple shots compared to Syracuse's one.
 
With the loss the Lady Lions fall to a 3-5-1 record and 1-1-1 in conference action. With the victory the Orange improve their record to 5-5-0 and 3-1 within the CHA. Lindenwood will return to the ice tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. as they again host Syracuse from Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.