The Lawrence men’s hockey team swept the Concordia Falcons in a home-and-home weekend series but then lost to the Royals of Bethel, Minn. Monday night. Sophomore Evan Johnson started all three games in goal for the Vikings, making his record 9-8-0 on the year. The two wins against Concordia (3-14-1, 3-10-0) increased the Vikings’ (9-8-0, 9-3-0 MCHA) winning streak to six games until the Royals (8-8-1) defeated them.
Lawrence sophomore captain Matt Jacobs was pleased with the effort of his team. “It’s tough playing three games in a row, so I’m proud that we could win two out of three, although it would have been nice to continue the winning streak.” Jacobs had a goal and two assists over the three games. The Vikings scored 11 goals in two games against Concordia, but could post only one goal against Bethel.
In the first game against Concordia, the Vikings had to fight a deficit twice, coming back from trailing 1-0 and 3-2. Lawrence would win the game 5-3 on the back of senior captain Nick Jennette’s two goals and an assist. Lawrence held a commanding advantage in shots taken, 54-13.
In the second game against Concordia, Lawrence jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and would not look back. Sophomore Pat Brenner scored his first goal of the season to start the scoring for Lawrence.
The Falcons looked ready to give Lawrence a run for their money when they trimmed the lead to 4-3, but junior Marc Howe delivered for Lawrence with under 10 seconds left in the second period, making the score 5-3. The final score was 6-3 as Howe scored again for Lawrence’s final goal. The Vikings again held a large advantage in shots taken with a 48-32 edge.
Lawrence was unable to continue the momentum of their weekend sweep and six-game winning streak when they traveled to St. Paul, Minn. to face Bethel University. The Royals came out firing, scoring the first three goals of the game. Bethel would add an empty net goal to make the final score 4-1. Sophomore Josh DeSmit scored Lawrence’s lone goal, and freshman Matt Hughes picked up the assist. Lawrence once again out-shot the opponent, but was unable to capitalize on shots as they had done the previous two nights.
The Vikings return to action this weekend in a home-and-home series against Marian College.
Men’s hockey sweeps Concordia Falcons, loses to Bethel Royals
