The roller hockey Gold squad captured the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League (GPCIHL) Regional D4 Championship with a two-game sweep of Bethel (Tenn.) D4 February 29 at Matteson Square Gardens in St. Peters, Missouri.  The Lions stopped the Wildcats 3-2 in the first contest Saturday afternoon and won the crown with a 4-2 win Saturday evening.

In the first game of the set, Lindenwood fell behind early, but charged back for three unanswered goals before holding off Bethel down the stretch.  The Wildcats took the lead in the first period, but the Lions capitalized on a power play opportunity when Pat Mahoney set up Austin Steger at 3:38 in the second.  Sean Maude made it 2-1 Lions with an even strength shot with 35 second remaining in the period, assisted by Marc Mayer.  Lindenwood added some insurance late in the third when Nathan Durrans hit the back of the net off a feed from Steger at 9:29 to make it 3-1 Lions.  Bethel cut into that deficit with an unassisted effort with 26 seconds left in regulation, but time ran out on the Wildcats.

Tyler Kolly earned the victory in goal with 18 saves on 20 shots as Lindenwood outshot Bethel 32-20.  Steger earned Star #1 honors with a goal and assist, Durrans received Star #2 recognition with a goal, and Maude earned Star #3 honors, also with a goal in the contest.  

With the Lions holding a 1-0 series advantage, the two teams laced up their skates for game two just two hours later.  Lindenwood had a quick start with three goals in the opening period and that proved to be enough for the win and series sweep.  The first score came on the power play when Durrans set up Kenny Gibson at 2:05.  Just over two minutes later, Drew Labeau sounded the horn at even strength with help from Cameron Rodriguez at 4:27.  Gibson added his second power play goal off a pass from Sam Koenig at 11:27 and the Lions carried a 3-0 advantage into the next period.  Lindenwood continued to create scoring chances, but was not able to get the puck to the back of the net in the second.  The Lions were called for a penalty and the Wildcats took advantage with a power play goal at 9:12 to close the gap to two.  They scored another with the man-advantage just 1:34 into the third to get within a single goal, but Lindenwood answered just 50-seconds later when Steger split the pipes off an assist from Koenig.  The Lions protected the 4-2 lead the rest of the game to claim the championship.

Clayton Davis made 16 saves on 18 shots for Lindenwood as the Lions outshot Bethel 32-18. Gibson earned Star #1 honors with his two goal effort and Steger received Star #3 honors with one goal.

The Gold squad finished GPCIHL play with a record of 11-1, the only loss coming to Bethel back in mid-November.  The Lions complete the regular season with an overall mark of 17-1 and advance to the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA) D4 National Championship April 16-19 at the Fort Myers Skatium in Fort Myers