A cross-town rivalry in Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) action lived up to its hype, but women's ACHA ice hockey came up a goal short in a 3-2 loss to McKendree Friday afternoon at the McKendree Metro Rec-Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois. In a chippy game that featured 11 penalty calls, the Lions successfully killed off two five-on-three power plays by the Bearcats, but it wasn't enough.

Lindenwood did have an early advantage after Madison Teague sounded the horn off a pass from Kim Turcotte at the 6:15 mark of the first, but McKendree tied the contest late in the period and then took a 2-1 lead midway through the second. The Lions answered just 32-seconds later on a Loki Antonio shot set up by a feed from Saskia Fuchs with 10:09 left in the period. It remained tied at two into the third until the Bearcats scored what proved to be the game-winner with 13:30 remaining in regulation.

McKendree outshot Lindenwood 40-17, but Emily McDonald stopped 37 of the 40 pucks she faced to keep the Lions in the game.

With the loss, Lindenwood drops to 3-6-0 overall and to 2-3-0 in the WMCH. The Lions wrap up the fall campaign with a two-game conference series against Maryville December 2-3 at home. Both games will take place at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.