BOSTON, Mass. (February 7, 2026) – The Stonehill College men's hockey team skated to a decisive 5-1 victory at Warrior Ice Arena Saturday night against Lindenwood University. With the result, the Skyhawks improved to 6-20-2 overall, while the Lions dropped to 13-13-0 on the year.
 
Highlights

• Stonehill held a 36–32 advantage in shots on goal and won the faceoff battle, 34–31.
• Five different Skyhawks found the back of the net, including juniors Matthew Romer and Charlie Banquier, sophomores Cole Melady and Justin Mexico, and freshman Pat Murphy.
• Junior Anthony Galante, sophomore Billy Renfrew, and Romer each recorded multi-point performances, while senior David Posma added his third assist of the season.
• Sophomore Joel Lehtinen and Renfrew shared the team lead with 10 faceoff wins apiece, while freshman Matthew Rafalski blocked a team-high three shots.
• Sophomore netminder Linards Lipskis earned his first collegiate victory, turning aside 31 shots against Lindenwood.

 
How It Happened
Lindenwood came out of the gates strong, peppering Lipskis and the Stonehill defense with 20 shot attempts over the opening eight minutes of the first period. After weathering the early pressure, the Skyhawks began to chip away at the shot differential, and the teams skated into the first intermission locked in a scoreless tie.

Early in the second period, Lipskis came up clutch with a pair of highlight-reel breakaway saves, keeping the Lions off the scoreboard. Lindenwood eventually broke through at the 12:38 mark, however, as Jaeden Mercier netted his second goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Stonehill answered when Melady pounced on a loose puck in the crease, burying his fifth goal of the year to even the contest.

After earning its fourth power-play opportunity of the night at 15:18 of the second stanza, Romer collected a loose puck off the draw, wheeled around the near-side circle, and skated into the slot before snapping a top-shelf shot home for his team-leading 10th goal of the season, sending the Skyhawks into the break with a 2–1 advantage.

Stonehill pulled away in the third period, tacking on three additional goals to open a commanding four-goal cushion. Mexico converted on a slick cross-ice saucer pass from Posma at 7:09, before Banquier rifled a shot inside the far post at 11:58 for his first goal of the campaign. Murphy capped the scoring at 17:44, finishing a scramble in front after Melady's wraparound attempt slid through the crease.
 
Up Next
Stonehill (6-20-2) returns to action next weekend for a two-game series against Long Island University in East Meadow, New York. Puck drop for Friday's opener between the Skyhawks and Sharks is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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