AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Lindenwood men's hockey team (3-3-0) earned a split on the road with a 7-4 win at Air Force (2-2-0, 0-0-0 AHA) on Friday night. Trailing by two goals in the first period, the Lions converted four consecutive power plays to surge ahead before finishing the job with a three-goal third period.
Brady Arneson put Air Force in the driver's seat early, scoring a pair of goals 90 seconds apart in the first period, including the first of five total power play goals in the game at the 6:00 mark before adding a second goal at 7:30.
Lindenwood was scoreless on the power play coming into the night, but
Kim Elfving changed that just under 11 minutes into the opening frame with a wrist shot from the center of the left faceoff circle that touched twine for a conversion on the Lions' first power play of the game.
Elfving's score ignited a run of four unanswered goals from the Lions' previously snake bitten special team unit, with
Caden Brown scoring three minutes later on Lindenwood's next power play before
Michael Bevilacqua lit the lamp for the first time this season 25 seconds into the second period following an Air Force penalty called seven seconds before the first intermission.
At the 8:34 mark of the second period, Air Force's Grant DeNuccio was called for a five-minute major with a game misconduct for contact to the head, which was taken advantage of by
Noah Dziver, who scored from the slot for his second goal of the weekend and the Lions' fourth power play goal of the game.
However, more work would need to be done after the Falcons countered with consecutive goals in the last five minutes of the second period by Brendan Gibbons that tied the game at 4-4 heading into the final intermission.
The Lions would regroup to score three unanswered goals in the third period, beginning with an
Andy Earl score at the 6:01 mark, as the freshman powered a shot from the high slot past the Air Force goaltender to put Lindenwood back in front.
About six and a half minutes later,
Andrew LeBlanc forced a turnover in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway to make the score 6-4 before a blocked shot led to another breakaway opportunity for LeBlanc, who used a nice backhand finish to score his second goal of the period and extend the Lindenwood lead to three.
The Lions would protect their advantage for the final five minutes and change for their first road win of the season, snapping a three-game losing streak at the Academy.Â
Game Notes
Quotable
"That was a big team win tonight," said Lindenwood head coach
Keith Fisher. "The guys did the little things needed to win a hockey game like this. Big response after last night!"
Next Up
Lindenwood returns home to host Omaha at Centene Community Ice Center on Homecoming Weekend. Game one is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 23
rd with game two following at the same time on Saturday the 24
th.
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