MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. – On Friday afternoon, Lindenwood women's ice hockey faced off against the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers. The Lions would fall to the Tigers 4-1. Friday's loss was the Lions eighth straight and their record would move to 3-24-2, and 2-14-1 in conference play.  

GAME OVERVIEW  

The Tigers got the scoring started on Friday, capitalizing on a 2-1 odd man rush just 23 seconds into the first period and taking an early 1-0 lead. At 12:10, RIT extended their lead to two, scoring while on the power-play. The Tigers outshot the Lions 16-5 in the first frame and held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Catherine Hodgins would make 14 saves in the period, for the Lions.  

2nd Period  

The second period saw the Lions struggle to stay out of the penalty box. Lions went on the penalty kill at 4:16, but a forced turnover by senior forward, Morgan Neitzke, resulted in her drawing a penalty shot. Neitzke was unable to score, ringing a shot off the right post. After successfully killing off a penalty, Lindenwood surrendered an even-strength goal at 12:55. The Lions now found themselves trailing 3-0 after two periods of play. Lindenwood in the period was outshot 17 to 11. Hodgins would make 16 stops in the period.  

The ensuing seven minutes of the period was all Lindenwood offensively, as the Lions outshot RIT 8-1, but the Tiger netminder made all eight saves including right pad stop on a LU two-on-one rush. At 8:15, Brooke Pioske was called for an interference minor; the seventh Lions penalty of the afternoon. While on the powerplay, RIT extended their lead to 4-0 at the 9:35 mark. The Lions got on the board at 13:10 thanks to an unassisted tally by Morgan Neitzke, who would register her ninth goal of the season. Neitzke's goal also snapped the Lions six period scoreless streak dating back to their January 31st meeting against Syracuse. Now down by three, the Lions continued to apply pressure in the offensive zone amassing a period-high 20 shots on goal, but the deficit was simply too much to overcome as they fell to the Tigers 4-1. Madison Bowtell would make three stops in the period.   

RIT outshot Lindenwood 37-36 on Friday and converted on two of seven power plays. Hodgins made 30 saves on 33 shots but was tabbed with the loss. Her record now sits at 1-5-1 on the season and improves her save percentage to .899. Hodgins and Bowtell would make a combined 33 saves on the afternoon. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS  

Points – Morgan Neitzke (1) 

Goals – Morgan Neitzke (1) 

Shots on Goal - Morgan Neitzke (8) 

Plus/Minus – 12 players tied (0) 

Faceoff Wins – Chloe Corbin (14) 

Blocked Shots – Maegan Cronan (2), Sydney Rarick (2) 

UP NEXT  

Lindenwood has just three regular season games remaining before the AHA Tournament begins on February 21st. The Lions return to action Saturday afternoon for their final home game of the regular season when they square off against AHA rival RIT in the weekend finale. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. following the Lions senior day festivities.