With three straight victories in pool play, the Lions advanced to the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division II National Championship semifinals. Lindenwood outscored Army (West Point) 8-5 in the opener, then shutout the University of Providence (Mont.) 3-0, before finishing with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win against Liberty.

It was an offensive battle against the Black Knights on Monday. After Army scored the first goal just 24-seconds into the game, the Lions responded with six straight. Zac Maupin lit the lamp for the first of them, assisted by Gage Vierzba and Austin Meers at 9:42. Stanley Lucas made it 2-1 Lindenwood at 11:45 on a play set up by Brett Robinson and Sam Watson.

Sean McMahon took matters into his own hands early in the second when he stole the puck and scored unassisted at 2:09. Meers made it 4-1 just over two minutes later with help from Stanley Lucas and Robinson and the Black Knights were called for tripping on the play. Watson fed Lucas just six seconds into the man-advantage to make it 5-1 at 4:27. Maupin added to the Lions tally when he netted his second goal of the game at 6:23 with Anthony Tinsley and Vierzba earning the assists. Army countered with the next two to cut the deficit to 6-3, but Chase McClellan beat the buzzer to make it 7-3 with help from Robinson and Adam Rischbieter at 19:58.

Maupin completed his hat trick at the 6:54 mark of the third for the final Lindenwood goal, assisted by Meers and Vierzba. The Black Knights added two in the last five minutes of regulation for the final margin.

The Lions outshot Army 40-33 and Ethan Paulin-Hatch stopped 28 of the 33 shots he faced in the victory.

In a much lower scoring contest, Lindenwood controlled things from start to finish in the 3-0 win over the Argonauts on Tuesday. The Lions jumped in front with two goals in just over two minutes and clamped down on the Providence offense.

Sean McMahon scored the first at 1:26 on a play set up by Logan Millhausen and McClellan, then Robinson sounded the horn off a feed from Maupin at 2:04. After the quick start, there was no scoring for the rest of the first, all of the second, and the first five minutes of the third, but a holding penalty on the Argos at 5:08 gave Lindenwood a power play and Lucas took advantage just 11-seconds later off a pass from McClellen.

The Lions outshot Providence 43-14 and Paulin-Hatch stopped all 14 shots he faced as Lindenwood improved to 2-0 in pool play.

The Flames were also 2-0 in pool play entering the final contest on Wednesday, so the winner advanced to the semifinals and the loser went home. The Lions were quite familiar with Liberty having faced them four times during the regular season with a 3-1 record. As could be expected, the game went back-and-forth until the final play.

The Flames took a 1-0 lead at 4:49, but Watson hit the blade of Lucas for an equalizer at 16:31. It looked like the opening period would end in a 1-1 tie, but Liberty found the back of the net with just five seconds left.

The Flames had possession of the puck, but gave it up and Lucas skated free for an unassisted goal at 11:11 for a 2-2 tie. Lindenwood took a 3-2 lead later in the period when McMahon and Watson set up Behnen at 18:45.

Liberty Knotted things again at 3:58 of the third and it remained 3-3 through the rest of regulation. After a scoreless drought of over 20 minutes, the Lions took advantage of the extra ice in overtime with Lucas setting up Robinson for the game-winner at the 27-second mark.

Lindenwood outshot the Flames 33-26 and Paulin-Hatch stopped 23 of the 26 pucks he faced. The Lions went 0/2 on the power play while holding Liberty scoreless on three man-advantage chances.

With a 3-0 mark, Lindenwood advanced out of pool play to the semifinals against Indiana University on Thursday. The Hoosiers went 2-1 in their pool and advanced on a tiebreaker. The puck drops at 5 p.m. at the Centene Community Ice Center.