It was a huge weekend, the Lions knew, as the WCHC leading ASU Sundevils came to town for their two conference games of the season.
On Friday, ASU would score first, on a point shot that snuck through a screen to lead 1-0 in a generally listless first period for the Lions. ASU would double their lead late in the second, and lead 2-0 after 2. The third saw the puck luck turn towards the Lions, and LMU got on the board as Kurita found a loose puck in the LMU end, while killing a penalty, and went end to end to bring the Lions within one. As the final minute ticked down, a cleared puck hit the stanchion and popped out to a streaking Engstrom. As he closed in on the net, Engstrom was taken down from behind and a penalty shot was called with no time left on the clock. Engstrom faked forehand and scored on the backhand to tie the score 2-2 after regulation. A wild overtime would ensue with both teams trading great chances, but freshman John Profaci continued to stand tall in the net, stopping 42 shots on the night. All tied after overtime, the game went to a shootout, both goalies were great, stopping the first five shooters each, but in the sixth round, ASU was able to score, and won the wild game in the shootout by a score of 3-2.
The Lions were looking to even the score in the back end of the series, but things didn’t start well. The Lions gave up chance after chance, and trailed 3-0 only 8 minutes into the first. After a few early goals, Profaci would shut the door, making 37 saves on the night. The Lions would get the scoring going early in the second as Roberto Kampfner scored on a rebound to make it 3-1. The Lions continued to push the pace in the second, generating most of the chances, and found the net again with 4 minutes to play, as Kurita fired the puck home on another rebound with the teams playing 4 on 4. ASU would come right back, scoring on the power play to go up 4-2 and quiet the LMU comeback, but with 7 seconds remaining in the second, the Lions had an offensive zone face-off. Gabi Rodriguez won the draw straight back to freshman Sebastian Cigarran who fired it off the post and in to bring the Lions within one. The third period saw the Lions take an early penalty, but they held strong and killed it off. The play went back and forth for the next 10 minutes until Spencer Engstrom would score unassisted as he trailed a puck towards the corner, tying the game at 4-4. The Lions would keep the pressure up, taking the lead on a goal from Mattias Hawthorne. Leading by one, the Lions had to fend off a few good opportunities from ASU, but did good work clearing the puck out and preventing multiple chances on net. The Lions would seal the game with 3 minutes to go as Kaczmarek picked the clearing attempt off the half boards, skated towards the net and fired off the far post and in to give the Lions a 6-4 lead. Kaczmarek cemented the win, by stealing the puck from an ASU defender and sliding it into the empty net, giving the Lions the 7-4 victory.