The Lindenwood men's hockey team (4-12-0) fell in the series finale to No. 1 Denver (16-4-0, 8-2-0 NCHC) by a score of 5-4 on Saturday night from Denver, Colo.

GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions opened the game with five of the first six shot attempts, including the first wo on goal. The pressure led to an early powerplay attempt, but Lindenwood couldn't find the back of the net. It would be Denver who would score first, however, taking a 1-0 lead just before the halfway mark of the opening period. A little over a minute later, Andy Willis and Hunter Johannes teamed up on an odd man rush, converting a 2-on-1, as Johannes tied the game at the 10:59 mark. Joe Prouty also picked up an assist on the goal. The Pioneers grabbed the lead back at the 15:15 mark of the opening frame, helping them take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

Denver got off to a quick start in the second period, adding to its lead less than a minute in the middle frame, going up 3-1. Lindenwood pulled within one at the 8:39 mark of the period as Cade DeStefani found the back of the net shortly after a man advantage expired. Kabore Dunn found DeStefani with a nice slap pass, which set up the one-timer goal. Coltan Wilkie also picked up a helper on the score. Denver regained its two-goal advantage with less than five minutes to go in the period, going up 4-2. Trent Burnham kept the Lions in the game, making 20 saves across the second 20 minutes of play, as Lindenwood trailed 4-2.

Mitch Allard found the back of the net against Denver for the second straight year, making the score 4-3 just 22 seconds into the final frame, assisted by Adam Conquest and Aiden Yakimchuk. Shortly after, Denver thought they had regained a two-goal lead, but the goal was disallowed due to goalie interference. This gave Lindenwood a jolt of momentum as the Lions were on the front foot throughout the period. Lindenwood tied the game at the 13:33 mark of the frame after Dunn flipped an innocent shot toward net and DeStefani banged home the rebound, knotting the game, 4-4. Johannes also picked up an assist on the game-tying goal.

The Pioneers went to work after Lindenwood tied the game and were able to grab a late game-winning goal after a rebound found its way past Burnham with 2:27 remaining in the game. Lindenwood kept battling, however, having some good looks to tie the game late but were unable to do so as Denver picked up the 5-4 win.

GAME LEADERS
DeStefani (two goals, six shots, four SOG)
Johannes (one goal, one assist, six shots, four SOG)
Dunn (two assists)

UP NEXT
The Lions will head to Burlington, Vt. for a two-game series with the University of Vermont beginning on Friday, December 30, beginning at 6:00 p.m. CT