Mar. 11, 2007- The Lindenwood women's ice hockey team fell in the championship match of the ACHA Division I National Tournament. The Lady Lions finished as the ACHA runner-up on Sunday after falling by a 4-1 score to Robert Morris.
The Lions advanced to the finals thanks to a stellar defense that allowed just one goal a game during the team's first four contests at the national event.
Lindenwood defeated Connecticut and Penn State in pool play. In the quarterfinals, the Lions knocked off St. Cloud State, and followed that with a win over Rhode Island in the semis.
The Lady Lions finished the season with an overall record of 27-6-1. The team will lose six players to graduation and transfer, so the team will have some work to do on the recruiting front to get back to form.
“We are losing some great kids that have been great student-athletes for us, but now our attention is completely focused on bringing in more talented kids. Our focus this off-season will be to improve our overall team speed and bringing in another top notch goaltender,” said Coach O’Mara.
The off-season workouts start soon and the sting of the last game will make the start of next season not come soon enough.
Lindenwood vs. Robert Morris (Championship) This season the shoe was on the other foot as the Lady Lions were left to watch Robert Morris celebrate their national championship.
After a 3-2 overtime win last season to take the title from Robert Morris, the Lady Eagles turned the tables in a 4-1 win the championship game.
“It was very disappointing. I felt we were playing our best hockey, but a ton of credit goes to John Burke and his players. They have an incredible program and they deserved this win,” said head coach Vince O’Mara.
The Lady Lions finished the season 1-4-1 against the Lady Eagles. “We won and tied early in the season at our place, but after that they seemed to have our number,” said Coach O’Mara.
Robert Morris took control of the game quickly and built a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
Lindenwood grabbed the momentum early in the second period on a tally by junior Katie Kells. The junior alternate captain took a feed from Kristy Leng and ripped a shot past the Eagles goaltender.
The momentum was short lived as the Lady Lions failed to convert a short-handed breakaway opportunity late in the second. Robert Morris gathered in the rebound and came down to net their third goal of the game.
“That missed opportunity and then having them come down to score was a huge play in the game. Those chances and opportunities always seem to come back to haunt you,” said Coach O’Mara.
The Lady Eagles capitalized again on the power play early in the third period to push the lead to 4-1. Their fourth goal was their third power play tally of the game.
Lindenwood goaltender Michelle Borsa stopped 16 of 20 in the loss.
Lindenwood vs. Rhode Island (Semifinals) The Lady Lions won their semifinal game on Saturday with a 6-1 win over Rhode Island.
Lindenwood led 2-1 after the first period and then pulled away with a pair of goals in both the second and third periods.
Six different Lady Lions scored on the day. Melanie Keith and Mandy Dion scored in the first, Lindsay Gordon and Kells scored in the second, and Amy Dlugos and Marie Blanc put one in the net in the third.
Lindenwood vs. St. Cloud State (Quarterfinals) In the quarterfinals, the Lady Lions defeated St. Cloud State by an 8-1 score.
Neither team scored for the first half of the game before St. Cloud State finally broke through with 10 minutes remaining in the second period.
It was all Lindenwood after that though, as the Lady Lions scored four times in both the second and third periods.
Melanie Keith, Amy Dlugos and Mandy Dion all had two goals, and Kat Hannah and Krystal Martin each scored one.
Lindenwood Pool Play The Lady Lions went 2-0 in pool action with a 5-1 win over Connecticut and a 16-1 trouncing of Penn State.
In the first game, Lindenwood kept Connecticut off the scoreboard until the third period. By that time, the Lady Lions already had a comfortable three goal lead, and they iced the game with two late goals.
Kristina Leng and Hannah both scored two goals in the win, and Dlugos had the other score.
Against Penn State, the Lady Lions exploded for 10 goals in the first period. Both Dion and Leng had hat tricks just in that period.
Those two players ended up with four goals for the game. Hannah and Dlugos each scored a pair, and Katie Kells, Gilliam Couture, Veronica Metcalf and Martin all had one goal.
Notes: Senior defensemen Sarah Wilkinson played in her 100th career game in the quarter-final game against St. Cloud ... freshman Mandy Dion tied the season record for most short-handed goals with four ... Kat Hannah and Amy Dlugos were named first-team All-Tournament and Veronica Metcalf was named to the second-team.
