Roller hockey swept all three games played January 26-27 at the Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey Inter-Regional at Hat Trick Hockey in Palatine, Illinois. The Lions defeated Arizona State University 7-2 and Florida Gulf Coast 11-2 on Saturday, then topped Michigan State 6-3 on Sunday.
Lindenwood started quickly against the Sun Devils, scoring three unanswered goals in the first period.
Nick DellaMorte accounted for two of them, the first coming just 29 seconds into the contest, assisted by Joseph Rosa, and the second four minutes later unassisted.
Tyler Watson found the back of the net at 8:58 on another unassisted play. Arizona State fought back in the second with two power play goals to make it 3-2, but the Lions dominated the final frame to earn the win.
Adam Swims scored twice at 1:22 and 4:50, the second effort helped by
Anthony Erace and
Sam Koenig. Watson netted his second at 6:03 off a pass from
Steve Farina, and DellaMorte finished his hat trick at 8:06 from Swims.
Lindenwood outshot the Sun Devils 25-13 and
Paul Towns stopped 11 of 13 to earn the win in goal. DellaMorte was named Star #1 with his hat trick, Swims earned Star #2 honors with two goals and an assist, and Watson claimed Star #3 in the contest with his two-goal effort.
The Lions controlled the Eagles from the start, scoring the first five goals. DellaMorte continued his hot shooting with a short-handed blast off a feed from
Cody Page at 5:15 in the first, and
Joey Rosa hit the back of the cage at 10:52 on a play set up by Swims.
Brycon Johnson made it 3-0 with a drive at 2:08 of the second, then Koenig went back-to-back at 5:09 and 10:22. Florida Gulf Coast broke the shutout just 19 seconds into the third, but Johnson gave Lindenwood its three-goal advantage back just 14 seconds later, assisted by
Chris Visico. The Lions added five more tallies in the final six minutes, starting with a
Joe Fordyce shot at 6:26. Goals from Johnson, Visico, Koenig, and Farina rounded out the offense for Lindenwood.
The Lions outshot the Eagles 28-9 and
Jacob Robinson made two saves on those nine shots to earn the victory in goal. Johnson was named Star # 1 with a hat trick and an assist. Koenig earned Star #2 honors with his hat trick, and Swims was named Star #3 with three assists.
In the final game of the weekend on Sunday, Lindenwood took advantage of early power plays to build a quick 2-0 lead over the Spartans. Rosa accounted for both scores, the first at 1:35 and the second at 5:26 of the first. Michigan State cut the deficit in half with a late goal and it was 2-1 Lions. The second period was mainly a defensive battle back and forth, but Lindenwood increased its lead to 3-1 with a Johnson power play shot with just 12 seconds left. He made it 4-1 on an even strength effort at 4:23 in the third before the Spartans made it 4-2 at 7:36. With time running out, Michigan State pulled the goalie and Swims promptly deposited an empty-netter at 11:09. The Spartans did manage to score before Koenig added another empty-netter with a second left for the final margin.
The Lions outshot Michigan State 34-13 and Town stopped 10 of 13 shots in goal for Lindenwood. Johnson was named Star #1 with two goals and two assists, Rosa earned Star #2 honors with a pair of goals and an assist, and Koenig was named Star #3 with a goal.
With the three wins, the Lions improved to 13-0 on the season. They'll return to action February 8-9 in the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League at Midwest Sport Hockey in Ballwin, Missouri.
