The Lions got off to a fast start, but had to hold on to get the victory at LBSU on Saturday night. The Lions, in their first WCHC action of the year, got out to a 2-0 lead. The first goal, from Chris Manzer, his fourth in the last 3 games, put the team up 1-0. The Power play goal, on a pass from Kaczmarek, left Manzer wide open in the slot, where he put it top shelf. Only fifty seconds later, Ryan Hirai took the puck wide, and found a wide open Austin Billings on the back door, who had an easy shot to take the 2-0 lead. Long Beach cut the lead to 2-1 on a power play goal late in the first.
In the second, Long Beach had the only goal, a strange bounce on a shot from the top of the circle. Long Beach had a lot more pressure in the second. After two it was tied 2-2.
The third showed the Lions with more pressure, as they got more shots on net and pressured up the ice more than in the 2nd. The Lions finally broke the tie as Ryan Hirai picked up a loose puck in the slot, cut it wide of the goalie, and fired it top shelf. The Lions had sixteen minutes to hold onto the lead, and did a good job of keeping pressure out of the zone. LMU had to kill a 5v3 PK midway through the third, and with great work, and timely clears, they were able to get the game down to the final minute where they had an opportunity at the empty net, but couldn’t finish. The game ended with LMU tying the puck up in the corner, and sealing the 3-2 win. Jason Footlick picked up another win in net, stopping 22 shots for the 3-2 win.