The Lindenwood Women's Hockey team (3-0-0, 0-0-0 AHA) took down the Merrimack College Warriors on the road to improve to 3-0 for the first time in Lindenwood's NCAA Era on Thursday night. The Lions scored all three of their goals in the first period and made big plays down the stretch to secure win number three of the 2026-27 season.
Raquel McCormack gave Lindenwood a 1-0 lead at the 3:33 mark of the first period to set the tone early. Ellie Muscedere collected the puck just outside the neutral zone and sent a pass up the left-side boards that found the stick of Tilde Simensen. Simensen found McCormack near the blueline, who snuck around her defender, made a move to her left in the middle of the slot, and sent a shot over the shoulder of the Warrior goaltender to put the Lions in front.
Less than a minute later, Lindenwood extended the lead thanks to Tatiana Blichova's second goal of the season. Elina Zilliox kept the puck in the offensive zone and dumped it down low to Michaela Paulinyova, who found Blichova in the middle of the ice with nobody in front of her. Blichova faked to her left, made a move to her right, and sent a backhanded shot into the back of the net to put the Lions up 2-0 with just over 15 minutes left in the opening frame. Later in the period, Silje Gundersen buried a shot into the back of the net to put Lindenwood in front by three. Nicole Pietrucha took the puck in the Lions' defensive zone and sent it up the ice to Simensen. Simensen dumped the puck into the offensive zone, retrieved her own pass, and found Gundersen in front of the net for the third goal of the period.
In the second period, the Lions were on the penalty kill three different times and killed off all three Merrimack power plays to keep the Warriors off the board. While shorthanded, Madison Bowtell stopped all five shots that Merrimack put on target in the frame, but the Warriors were able to get on the scoreboard shortly after the third power play of the period to make it a 3-1 game at the second intermission. Bowtell made 12 saves throughout the period and made some huge saves down the stretch to protect the two-goal lead.
The third period saw the Lions continue to play defense, blocking six shots throughout the final 20 minutes of play. Late in the game, Merrimack cut the Lions' lead down to one off a redirection in front of the net with 2:18 to play, but the defense stayed strong over the final 2:18, allowing zero shots and finishing the contest with a season-high 15 blocked shots to hang on for the 3-2 victory. Offensively, Tilde Simensen led the Lions with two assists, while Michaela Paulinyova recorded a team-high seven shots on goal.
"Winning on the road against a strong, well-coached team takes toughness." said Head Coach Max Gavin. "We loved our start, and we managed our highs and lows well. We found a way to dig deep, stay together, and pull it out. I'm really proud of our team."
Lindenwood will wrap up the series with the Warriors tomorrow afternoon, with puck drop set for 1 PMÂ CT on ESPN+.Â
