BOX SCORE
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The Lindenwood men's hockey team (5-5-0) overpowered Grand Canyon (9-4-0, 7-2-0) by a score of 7-2 at Centene Community Ice Center on Friday night. Clinging to a one-goal lead entering the third period, the Lions erupted for four goals in the frame to separate.
Game Overview
It was a dominant showing in all phases for Lindenwood. The Lions outshot the Antelopes 66-15, including a 25-1 advantage in the third period. Furthermore, LU went 2-5 on the powerplay while killing off GCU's one power play opportunity of the contest. Lindenwood also won 53.7% of the game's faceoffs.
Lindenwood's first goal came nine and a half minutes into the opening period with
Anselmo Rego finding the back of the net on assists from
Drew Kuzma and
Brady Yakesh. Grand Canyon equalized with a Dylan Thomas goal at the 15:56 mark, and the game entered the first intermission tied 1-1.
It didn't take long for LU to recapture the lead following the break, with
Ty Hipkin scoring a goal assisted by Kuzma and
Jake Delaney. The Lions extended their lead two minutes later on a
Giovanni Morneau powerplay goal that was set up by Michale Bevilacqua and
Charles Savoie. However, the Lopes scored another late-period goal with a Michael Schwartz unassisted score at the 17:24 mark, and the game entered the final frame with Lindenwood ahead by just one.
Anselmo Rego created some breathing room for the Lions 6:23 into the third period with his second goal of the evening before
Drew Kuzma touched twine roughly six minutes later to double the lead.
Tyler Loughman finished the job for Lindenwood, scoring back-to-back goals in the final seven minutes, including a power play conversion at the 18:33 mark, to put away Grand Canyon.
Rego and Loughman led the Lions with two goals apiece, while Kuzma and Conner Gengle both posted three assists.
Jacob Fletcher and
Brady Yakesh also had multi-assist outings with two helpers apiece.
Next Up
The Lions and Antelopes meet again on Saturday night, with puck drop from Centene Community Ice Center Scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
