The Lions hosted their annual Teddy Bear Toss game, and came away with two victories.
Taking on USC for the first time in years, the Trojans jumped out to an early lead, and a 2 on 1 rush goal early in the first. This quieted the large crowd at the Toyota Sports Performance Center, but not for long as the Lions scored a few minutes later, Connor Kaczmarek put home a rebound shot on a wrap around chance, and tied the score at 1-1. The crowd sent the bears flying, as the players and our special guests, the 12u LA Lions, swept the ice clean.
After counting the bears tossed and donated beforehand, the Lions had once again set a new record of Teddy Bears collected for the Richstone Family Foundation and Momentum4All, with a total of 1,125 stuffed animals given out to brighten a kids Christmas this year.
The Trojans would score again late in the first, and the Lions trailed 2-1 after one. In the second, the Lions came to life, scoring three goals and holding a 4-3 lead after two. Watters, Lynch and Skenderian scored for the Lions, who took control of the middle frame.
In the third, the Lions scored early to extend their lead, but USC scored midway through and kept the game close. In the final minutes, Jeff Lee streaked down the left wing and deflected home a centering pass from Skenderian, to put the game out of reach. As the buzzer sounded, the Christmas Spirit went away as a full ice fight took hold. Once broken up, the Lions saluted their fans for a great turnout and Bear Collection.