Anna Davis: Women’s ACHA Hockey Drops Series Finale To Indiana Tech

Women’s ACHA hockey fell to Indiana Tech 6-3 in the series finale Saturday afternoon at SpeedOne Parkview Arena in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Lions displayed great defense early, keeping the Warriors off the board for most of the opening period, but a goal at 16:17 put Indiana Tech in the lead and the Warriors took a 2-0 advantage at 7:54 of the second. Lindenwood responded with great sustained pressure in the zone. After almost a minute, the Warriors gained possession, but Madison Teague took the puck away and found the back of the net on an unassisted play at the 9:57 mark. The Lions were back in the game, but a penalty gave Indiana Tech a power play late in the period. The Warriors capitalized to go up 3-1.

A flurry of activity marked the opening minutes of the third. Indiana Tech scored another power play goal 37-seconds in to lead 4-1, but then was called for a body checking penalty. Lindenwood won the faceoff and took a shot, but was denied. The Warriors countered on a rush and scored short-handed for a 5-1 advantage, but the Lions were still on the power play. They cashed it in and cut the deficit to three when Kim Turcotte was set up for a shot by Loki Antonio at the 2:36 mark.

The third period proved to be a physical and chippy one with 19-minutes of penalties called. Five of those came on a major call against Lindenwood. On the ensuing power play, Indiana Tech kept the puck in the zone for over three minutes and eventually scored at 7:16 to extend the lead to 6-2. The Lions scored the last goal of the game on another power play with 1:56 remaining in regulation. Jessica Wither and Antonio set up Kennedy Frank for the shot.

The Warriors outshot Lindenwood 39-24 and Maia Busi stopped 33 of the 39 shots she faced in a losing effort for the Lions in goal.

With the loss, Lindenwood fell to 1-3 on the season. The Lions go back on the road for a two-game series in Women’s Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) action against Minnesota October 15-16. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Saturday night and at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Rider Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.