Ireland scored the game-tying goal in the final minutes of the third period to force overtime. (Photo Credit Mary Gettens).

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. (January 27, 2024) – The Stonehill College men's ice hockey team came up short in overtime, 6-5, during its series finale against Lindenwood University Saturday at the Centene Community Ice Center.

Highlights

• Sophomore Frank Ireland scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season, while freshman Justin Barker recorded his first career three-point game after scoring a pair of goals and dishing out an assist.
• Graduate student Matthew Allen lit the lamp on his second goal of the campaign, while sophomore Ryan Davies found the back of the net for his first goal of the year.
• Sophomore Greg Japchen and sophomore Dean Schwenninger dished out a pair of assists for the Skyhawks.
• Junior Jake Cady registered his first assist of the season, while senior captain Max Pineo and sophomore William Tripp added assists of their own on the night.
• Junior goaltender Gavin FitzPatrick made his ninth consecutive start in net for the Skyhawks, where he tallied 32 saves on the night.
• Freshman Jaeden Mercier and junior Caige Sterzer led the Lions with three points on the night.
• Junior netminder Trent Burnham picked up his fifth win of the season in between the pipes after stopping 23 of his 28 shots faced.

How it Happened

• Lindenwood wasted little time applying the offensive pressure, outshooting Stonehill 11-4 throughout the opening 20 minutes of action. 
• The Lions scored the game's opening goal at the 17:22 mark of the first period after Sterzer lit the lamp on his first goal of the game.
• Stonehill would respond less than two minutes after falling behind by one goal as Barker found the back of the net in the final minute of the opening frame off Japchen and Schwenninger's first of two assists on the night. 
• Lindenwood regained its early offensive momentum, tacking two more goals on the board off the sticks of graduate student Adam Conquest and junior David Gagnon within 58 seconds of each other at the 6:14 and 7:12 marks of the middle frame. 
• The Skyhawks would chip away at their now two-goal deficit and tie the game up at three apiece after goals from Davies and Allen.
• However, the Lions would respond late in the second period when Sterzer found the back of the net for his second goal of the contest and seventh of the season. 
• Mercier extended the Lindenwood advantage to 5-3 midway through the third, but the Skyhawks would not let up as they would find a way to battle back and tie the game up with less than three minutes to go in regulation. 
• Barker lit the lamp for his second goal of the game on the power play at the 15:50 mark before Ireland tied the game up with under two and a half minutes to play after capitalizing on a six-on-five advantage with FitzPatrick on the bench and an empty net at the other end of the ice. 
• After Ireland's game-tying goal, the two sides would take a deadlock 5-5 tie into overtime, where the Lions would eventually score the game-winner 1:51 into the five-minute extra frame off the stick of junior Kyle Jeffers.

Up Next

Stonehill (0-26-0) returns home to the Bridgewater Ice Arena next weekend to host familiar opponent Long Island University. Puck drop of Friday's series opener between the Skyhawks and Sharks is set for 7 p.m.

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