The Lions hosted USC at the home opener, in what is becoming a tradition between these two teams. And the LMU student fans packed the rink in the same tradition, but in a twist on the past few seasons, the Lions dropped the home opener to USC, 2-1. USC used it’s speed to hem the Lions in their D-Zone early in the game, but weren’t able to score. The Lions opened it up in the 2nd, and the game got into a good pace, though a barrage of penalties throughout the game left it a difficult game to manage. The Lions ended up with 14 penalties, and had to kill off three 5v3 USC advantages. USC, even with the many power play opportunities, was unable to score on the man advantage. USC would score first on an LMU turn over, and a rebound slid to the soft side where it was tapped home. LMU would waste no time in coming back, a quick power play and Evan Ng fired the puck in from the point, to knot the game at 1-1 only 36 seconds later. The game would continue with back and forth chances, though USC outshot the Lions. Late in the third, another costly turnover and USC went in all alone and beat the LMU net minder. The Lions would pressure late, but had to kill off 3 penalties late in the third, and ran out of time to tie it. Junior goalie Jake Blazier played very well, making a handful of huge sliding stops. Thanks to all the fans who packed the rink to cheer us on! The Lions are off next weekend, as they face the Alumni, then play at USC in their next contest.
Sep
16