BOSTON, Mass. (February 6, 2026) – The Stonehill College men's hockey team fell to NCAA Division I Independent foe Lindenwood University, 3–1, Friday night at Warrior Ice Arena. With the loss, the Skyhawks slipped to 5–20–2 overall, while the Lions improved to 13–12–0 on the season.
 
Highlights

• Stonehill held a 39–33 edge in shots on goal, while Lindenwood claimed the faceoff battle, 39–35.
• The Skyhawks blocked a season-high 23 shots, led by sophomore Cole Melady, sophomore Joel Lehtinen, and graduate student Evan Orr with three blocks apiece.
• Junior JJ Grainda extended his single-season career-high goal total with his eighth of the season, marking his fourth goal over the last two games.
• Freshman Pat Murphy and Lehtinen tallied their sixth and seventh assists of the year, respectively.
• Sophomore Billy Renfrew recorded a game-high 15 faceoff wins, while Orr paced the Skyhawks with five shots on goal.
• Sophomore Linards Lipskis turned aside a season-high 30 shots in net.

 
How It Happened
Stonehill wasted no time opening the scoring, as just 1:48 into the opening frame Grainda picked up where he left off following his hat trick against Merrimack on Tuesday night, burying his eighth goal of the season and fourth over the last two games. Grainda capitalized on a rebound in front after an initial shot from Murphy to give the Skyhawks an early edge. Following the opening tally, the two teams went back-and-forth trading offensive zone time and flurries of shot attempts, but Stonehill carried the 1–0 lead into the first intermission.

Lindenwood responded early in the second period, as Olivier Houde netted the game-tying goal 3:18 into the frame for his ninth of the season, assisted by Nolan Seed and Jacob Fletcher. The Lions continued to build momentum in the middle stanza, adding goals from Michael Bevilacqua at 15:17 and Brody Mortenson at 18:44 to take a 3–1 advantage into the final period.

Trailing by two in the third, Stonehill generated several quality opportunities, earning three power plays including 1:18 of a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the frame. Despite skating with the man advantage for nearly eight total minutes in the period—and pulling the goaltender for the final 1:34—the Skyhawks were unable to cut into the deficit, ultimately falling 3–1.
 
Up Next
Stonehill (5-20-2) rounds out its two-game weekend series with Lindenwood tomorrow night at Warrior Ice Arena at 7:30 p.m.

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