Women’s ACHA Hockey Splits Series with Miami (Ohio)

After a nearly four-week layoff, women’s ACHA ice hockey split a two-game series with Miami (Ohio) University, falling 4-2 on Friday night, but winning 4-3 Saturday afternoon at the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio.

The Lions scored in the opening seconds of the first contest when Ardyn Hawryshko sounded the horn off an assist from Loki Antonio at the 55-second mark, but the Redhawks scored two in the final five minutes of the period to take a 2-1 lead. The Lindenwood scoring combination struck again at 10:50 in the second with Antonio beating the goaltender off a feed from Hawryshko and it was tied 2-2, but the Lions offense would be stymied from there while Miami scored twice in the third, the final blow coming on the power play with 1:21 left in regulation.

The Redhawks outshot Lindenwood 55-37, but Maia Busi kept the Lions in the game despite the barrage with 51 saves on 55 shots. Lindenwood went 0/2 on the power play while holding Miami to one goal on four chances.

In the series finale, the Lions opened up a two-goal lead, but eventually gave that up and had to come from behind in the final six minutes to get the victory.

Things started well for Lindenwood, although the first goal came at an unlikely time. After the Lions were called for slashing, Hawryshko managed to steal the puck midway through the penalty kill and passed to Madison Teague who buried a shot short-handed at the 7:09 mark of the opening period. The pair of teammates then switched roles later in the period with Teague feeding Hawryshko for an even strength effort at 17:54, giving Lindenwood a 2-0 advantage.

The score remained the same through the end of the first and through most of the second until a flurry of action from the Redhawks resulted in two goals in a matter of 12-seconds. The first came on a power play with 1:01 remaining while the tying goal came at even strength. Miami took a 3-2 lead at 11:47 of the third, setting up the Lions comeback. Kennedy Frank set up Risa Shatford at 14:15 to tie the score 3-3, and then Antonio netted the game-winner with help from Teague with only 36-seconds remaining in regulation.

The Redhawks outshot Lindenwood 48-34, but Maia Busi stopped 45 of the 48 shots she faced to earn the victory in goal, making 96 saves in the two-games. The Lions went 0/3 on the power play, but held Miami to just one goal on six man-advantage chances.

With the split, Lindenwood now has a record of 3-5-0 on the season. The Lions head across the river to the Metro-East for a single contest against McKendree University in Women’s Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) action November 18. The puck drops at 12 p.m. Friday afternoon at the McKendree Metro Rec-Plex in O’Fallon, Illinois.