Roller hockey won two out of three games at the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Inter-Regional January 18-19 at Hot Shots Indoor Sports Arena in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania. The Lions cruised to a 7-2 victory over Slippery Rock and lost in overtime 5-4 to Farmingdale State College on Saturday, then stopped Michigan State 4-3 on Sunday.
The first game of the weekend against the Pride was close early, with both teams earning power play goals in the first. The Lindenwood score came from
Brycon Johnson. Slippery Rock took a brief 2-1 lead early in the second period before the Lions stormed back with three unanswered. Johnson netted his second at 5:21, followed by
Cody Page at 7:03.
Joey Rosa scored on the power play at 10:20 for a 4-2 advantage. Lindenwood added three more tallies in the third.
Tyler Watson split the pipes short-handed,
Cody Page scored his second, and Haney-Johnson completed his hat trick unassisted.
The Lions outshot the Pride 31-29 and
Jacob Robinson stopped 21 of 22 shots in two periods of work while
Paul Town saved six out of seven in a period of relief. Johnson earned Star #1 honors with three goals and an assist, Page was named Star #2 with two goals and an assist, and
Nick DellaMorte earned Star #3 honors with three assists.
The second game on Saturday was truly a back-and-forth affair with the teams getting alternating goals throughout the contest. Lindenwood scored first when Page found the back of the net at 5:37. After a Farmingdale goal just 39 seconds later, Johnson lit the lamp at 8:53, but the Rams tied it at two with 35 seconds remaining. The two squads traded power play goals in the second with the Lions score coming off the blade of Rosa. A good portion of the third ticked by without any scoring before DellaMorte made it 4-3 with 3:15 left in regulation. For a fourth time, Farmingdale answered, this time with just over two minutes remaining. Ultimately, the game went to overtime, and it looked like a shootout was coming because neither team scored in the initial minutes, but Rams forward Joey DiMartino skated through the Lindenwood defense for the game-winner with just 45 seconds on the clock.
The Lions outshot Farmingdale 25-21 and Robinson stopped 17 of the 21 pucks he faced to earn the hard-luck loss in goal.
The final game of the weekend for Lindenwood also went to overtime, but the Lions had to come from behind to even get to that point as the Spartans took a 2-0 lead early in the second after scoring their first in the opening period. Johnson cut the advantage in half, unassisted at 3:21 of the second and the game went to the third with Michigan State leading 2-1. The Spartans pushed their margin to 3-1 before the Lions fought back to force the extra frame.
Steve Farina set up Christian Acosta at 8:27, and then DellaMorte tied the contest on the power play with just 18 seconds remaining in regulation. The overtime period almost ticked away without a winner, but Johnson sent the Lindenwood fans home happy with just 35 seconds left.
The Lions outshot Michigan State 25-15 and Robinson saved 12 of 15 shots for the win in goal. Johnson earned Star #1 honors with two goals and an assist, DellaMorte was named Star #2 with a goal and assist, and Page earned Star #3 honors with two assists.
With the two wins and a loss, Lindenwood improved to 6-3 overall. The Lions return to action at the Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Inter-Regional January 25-26. Lindenwood is scheduled to face Slippery Rock at 9 a.m., Arizona State at 2 p.m., and Bethel (Tenn.) at 9 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a game against Michigan State at 1 p.m. Sunday, all at Hat Trick Hockey in Palatine, Illinois.
