Men's ice hockey outlasted Ohio 6-4 to win the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) tournament Sunday afternoon in Athens, Ohio.
 
It was everything you would want a conference championship to be as both the Lions and Bobcats battled back and forth for most of the game.  Lindenwood jumped out to an early lead as Steve Brancheau lit the lamp off a feed from Nick Carey just over two minutes into the first, but Ohio tied it with a power play goal midway through the period and then took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission with another goal with 8:17 left. 

The Lions wasted no time in the second as Grant Gorczyca tied the game just 27 seconds into the period.  Colin Long and Peppi Sipila assisted on the play.  With 9:11 left, Lindenwood edged in front with a goal from Neeco Belanger assisted by Tobias Dahlstrom and Barclay Berner, but the Bobcats battled back to tie the game at 3-3 as they scored with only eight seconds remaining.

Defense prevailed through the first seven minutes of the third as neither team was able to find the back of the net, but Lindenwood capitalized with the man advantage when Brancheau scored on the power play from Tyler Bowman and Joe Bostic at the 12:45 left in the period.  The key play of the game came two minutes later when Ohio was looking to tie the game on its own power play, but the Lions turned the tables when Niklas Bunnstedt broke free on a pass from Bostic and scored a short-handed goal with 10:36 left to give Lindenwood a 5-3 lead.  The Lions extended that lead to three on the second goal from Gorczyca, assisted by Sipila and Bowman with 9:07 remaining.  The Bobcats did get their fourth goal late in the third, but it wasn't enough as the Lions prevailed with the 6-4 win. 

Lindenwood went 1-4 on the power play while Ohio was 1-6.  The Bobcats outshot the Lions 25-23, but goalie Kent Henry stood tall as he stopped all but four of the shots he faced to earn the win.  Freshman forward Steve Brancheau was named the CSCHL Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player.  He scored two goals and assisted on another in the two games the Lions played in the tournament.    

After going undefeated in regular season conference play for the first time in program history, the Lions added another first by winning the conference tournament as well.  It was the first time that Lindenwood has won both the regular season and conference tournament titles in the same year.

The Lions now turn their sights to the 2012 American Collegiate Hockey League (ACHA) Division 1 National Championship which will take place March 2-7 in Strongsville, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland.  Lindenwood is 29-4 overall and riding an 18 game winning streak.  The Lions will enter the tournament as the number two seed and will have a bye in the first round before facing the winner between number 15 seed Central Oklahoma and 18 seed Kent State.  Game time for Lindenwood is 8 p.m. EST Saturday, March 3 at the Hoover Arena.  The Lions will need to win three games in succession to play for the 2012 ACHA Division 1 National Championship Wednesday, March 7.