Men's ice hockey built a two goal lead by the end of the first period, but couldn't hold it, and ultimately fell to Illinois 3-2 in a shootout on the road Friday night in Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

The Lions struck first at the 6:53 mark when Jeremy Edwards split the pipes with help from Rock Einersen and John Petersson.  Lindenwood built that lead when Einersen found the back of the net with just one second remaining in the period.  Christoffer Lowenhielm and Mike Lozano assisted on the play that seemed to give the Lions all the momentum heading into the second, but Lindenwood had some undisciplined moments that led to a five-on-three power play for the Illini and they took advantage of it, scoring  just five minutes into the period. 

Despite the setback, the Lions regrouped and refocused on defense to hold Illinois at bay for the next 34 minutes of game time, however they were unable to score in the process and Illinois was still just one shot away from tying the contest as the final minutes ticked away in the third.  The Illini goaltender headed to the bench for the extra attacker and it paid off with 64 second remaining in regulation, sending the game into overtime.  Neither team scored in the extra five minutes, which set up a shootout to decide things.

Kevin Walters shot first for Lindenwood, but was denied, as was the first shooter for Illinois.  Lozano gave the Lions a 1-0 advantage on the second attempt, but the Illini answered.  Einersen took the third shot for Lindenwood, but was unsuccessful, setting up the game-winner from Illinois. 

The key statistic in the loss for the Lions was a discrepancy in power play chances.  The Illini scored once on six advantage opportunities while Lindenwood went scoreless on just two chances.  The Lions outshot Illinois 37-27 and goaltender Michael Hails stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced to pick up the loss.

Lindenwood dropped to 13-12-2 overall and 8-4-1 in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League.  The Lions will play for the series split when they face the Illini again Saturday night.  The opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Urbana-Champaign, Ill.