For the third time in the last four years, roller hockey advanced to the national title game, but settled for second place, as Farmingdale State College defeated the Lions 5-1 Saturday night in the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA) Division I Championship at the Southwest Youth Ice Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.  It was the second year in a row that the Rams eliminated Lindenwood in the finals.

Farmingdale controlled the contest from the beginning, and stifled the Lions offense the entire game, only allowing nine shots from Lindenwood.  The Rams took a 2-0 lead in the first period with an even strength tally and power play goal.  They added an unassisted score and another power play goal in the second before Cody Page put the Lions on the board at 9:13, assisted by Nick DellaMorte and Nick Schnelle.  The third period proved a bit physical with 10 penalties called between the two teams.  Farmingdale took advantage of one of them with a third power play goal of the game with 3:16 remaining in regulation and then ran out the rest of the clock for the victory.

Lindenwood allowed 29 shots on goal and Jacob Robinson stopped 24 of them in a losing effort. 

Earlier in the day, the Lions advanced to the championship game with a 5-2 win over Bethel (Tenn.) in the national semifinals. 

The Wildcats scored at 5:40 of the first period and carried a 1-0 lead all the way into the beginning of the third.  They added a second score early in the period before Lindenwood erupted with the final five goals of the game.

DellaMorte started the comeback at 3:13 on a feed from Page.  Just 16 seconds later, Jalen Krogman tied the contest, again on a pass from Page.  Bethel looked to take back momentum after a penalty on the Lions, but Lindenwood turned the tables with a short-handed effort from Steve Farina on a play set up by Tyler Watson and Page.  The lead was extended to 4-2 when Adam Swims found the back of the net at 10:11, assisted by Farina and Krogman.  The final blow came from DellaMorte from Krogman just 36 second later.

The Lions outshot Bethel 34 to 24 and Robinson stopped 22 of the 24 pucks he saw to earn the win in goal.  Krogman earned Star #1 honors with a goal and two assists, DellaMorte was named Star #2 with two goals, and Page earned Star #3 honors with three assists.

With the win and loss on Saturday, Lindenwood completed the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 28-2.  The Lions posted a conference mark of 11-0 in the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League and won the conference championship tournament with a two-games to one victory over Bethel back in February.  The D1 squad accomplished a major milestone during the year with win number 500 but was denied an 11^th national championship.