One night after nearly letting a three-goal lead slip away, the Lindenwood women's ice hockey team regrouped and advanced to the ACHA Division I National Championship with a 5-0 shutout of Rhode Island in the semfinals in Blaine, Minn on Saturday night.
Mandy Dion recorded her third straight hat trick in the process and the Lady Lions pitched their 10th shutout in the last 13 games.
Dion opened the scoring midway through the first with a score, and
Christy Mason made it 2-0 late in the period with her eighth goal of the season. Dion added a pair of scores in the second to push the lead to 4-0.
Kendra Ganchar tallied another score in the third to complete the scoring for the Lady Lions.
Rebecca Bernet earned the win in goal, stopping 26 shots, to notch her 17th shutout of the season.
Lindenwood (42-2-2, 12-0) will play Michigan State tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. for the national title. The Spartans upset Robert Morris 2-1 in the other semifinal.