Roller hockey captured the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League Regional Championship with a two games to one victory over Bethel (Tenn.) in a best-of-three title series February 25 at Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin, Missouri.  It was the first year that the conference implemented the multiple game final and the Lions had to come from behind to win it after losing the first contest 3-2.  Lindenwood rebounded with 4-2 and 4-1 victories.

In the opening game of the series, the Wildcats jumped ahead of the Lions with two goals early in the second before Nick DellaMorte scored midway through the period to make it 2-1 Bethel.  The Wildcats netted their third goal early in the final period to take a 3-1 lead.  Lindenwood pulled within one at the 9:50 mark when Daniel Rosse split the pipes, but that was as close as the Lions would get in the 3-2 loss.

Lindenwood outshot Bethel 32 to 25 in the game and Paul Town stopped 22 of the 25 pucks he faced in goal for the Lions.

Game two was just three hours later, but Lindenwood rebounded well.  After falling behind again on an early Wildcats score, Jalen Krogman split the pipes on the power play at 4:07 in the first, assisted by Cody Page.  The contest remained deadlocked at one from that point completely through the second period and into the opening seconds of the third when Bethel lit the lamp with the man advantage to take a 2-1 lead.  It was all Lions from there with three straight goals for a 4-2 victory.  DellaMorte found the back of the net first at 3:17, followed by Austin Steger at 4:06, and Steve Farina at 5:10. 

Farina was named Star #1 with a goal and an assist and Krogman earned Star #2 honors with the same stats.  Lindenwood outshot the Wildcats 37 to 19 and Jacob Robinson stopped 17 of those 19 shots to earn the win in goal for the Lions.

The best-of-three series had turned into a one game winner-take-all situation, but Lindenwood was equal to the task in game three.  The Lions played stifling defense, taking away scoring chances for Bethel.  Adam Swims gave Lindenwood an early lead when he scored on a pass from Krogman at the three-minute mark of the first.  The Wildcats tied the game at one early in the second, but DellaMorte gave the Lions a lead they would keep just 80 seconds later.  Lindenwood carried the 2-1 advantage into the final period and added two more on goals from Steger, assisted by Jake Escarcega, and Rosse unassisted.

The Lions outshot Bethel 28 to 12 and Robinson stopped 11 of 12 shots in goal.  Steger was named Star #1 with a goal and assist, DellaMorte earned Star #2 honors with a goal, and Rosse was named Star #3 with a goal in the contest. 

Earlier in the weekend on Friday, Lindenwood completed its regular season conference schedule with two games against Missouri.  The Lions won the first game 7 to 3 with two goals each coming from Escarcega and Swims.  Rosse, Max Romanowicz, and Steger accounted for the other three scores as Lindenwood outshot the Tigers 48-19.  Town earned the win in goal with 16 saves on 19 shots. 

The Lions shutout Mizzou 4-0 in the second game of the evening.  In a tightly played contest, no one scored in the first period and only one goal came in the second off the stick of Tyler Watson for Lindenwood.  With just a 1-0 lead heading in the final period, the Lions put the game out of reach with three goals.  The first came from Page, followed by Romanowicz, and Swims.  Lindenwood outshot the Tigers 47-13 and Robinson stopped every puck he faced for the win between the pipes.

With the five wins, the Lions improved to 22-1 overall.  They will have six weeks to prepare for the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Division I National Championship April 11-14 in Fargo, North Dakota.