Men's ice hockey was crowned the 2016 American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division I National Champion with a 2-1 victory over Iowa State Tuesday night at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Ill.  The Lions fell behind early, but rallied in the final 21 minutes of game action to take the title, the third overall for the program and the first since 2010.

After most of the opening period went scoreless, the Cyclones were the team to get the all-important first goal of the game, and they did so with just a minute, nine seconds remaining in the first.  It looked like Iowa State would carry that advantage into the third until senior Stephen Bopp, playing his last moments in a Lindenwood jersey, ripped a shot to the back of the net at the 19:31 mark of the second with help from Jordan Klimovsky and Lukas Daniels.  That tied the contest at one, with only the final period of regulation time left. 

The team that scored next would have momentum, and the Lions managed to do just that when two underclassmen combined on a play.  Freshman forward Tommy Heinzman set up sophomore forward Mike Lozano at 6:47 in the third, but that left more than 13 minutes on the clock for Lindenwood to defend.  As Iowa State scrambled to find an equalizing goal, even more pressure was put on the Lions when a boarding penalty was called with only 2:21 on the clock.  That left Lindenwood short-handed and gave the Cyclones a great opportunity, but the pressure was escalated even more when Iowa State pulled its goalie to go six-on-four with 66 seconds left.  Despite the advantage, the Cyclones couldn't get the puck past the Lindenwood net-minder and the Lions hoisted the championship cup.

Lindenwood outshot Iowa State 31-23 and after a tremendous effort in the semifinal game, goalie Michael Hails turned in another great performance, with 22 saves on the 23 shots he faced.  Rightfully so, Hails was named the First Star of the Game. 

The Lions finish the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 27-10-0, and add some hardware to their trophy case.