The Lindenwood Lions proved they are on the move and a team to be taken seriously. On Friday night, the Lions cruised to a 3-0 shutout over the Sharks of Long Island University. This is a momentous victory, as it serves as Lindenwood’s first shutout in the NCAA Division I era.
From the opening puck drop both teams came out aggressively moving the puck with purpose and determination. The Lions showed a tenacity on the ice that could not be contested. Despite serving eight penalty minutes to six, LU did not concede a single goal. This was in large part to the unbelievable talent and hard work of Trent Burnham.
Burnham recorded ten saves in the first, 18 in the second and nine in third for a total of 37 saves. There was a beautiful instance during the contest where LIU’s player’s shot appeared to be a guaranteed goal, yet Burnham denied the goal and cruised into the men’s ice hockey history books as the first to record a DI shutout for Lindenwood. There were also nine team blocks recorded by LU to assist in protecting the net.
After Brenden Rons was able to pass the puck to a well-positioned Zachary Aughe, who was able to slide a quick pass to Ethan Zielke, who nailed the goal, the Lions jumped to a 1-0 lead at 3:52 in the opening period.
The second was physical and saw five players serve penalty minutes, yet there were no goals scored. At 6:19 in the third, Lindenwood saw an opportunity and pounced. Kyle Jeffers took a pass from Brenden Rons and Jake Southgate to lift the Lions up 2-0.
The final goal came during an empty net situation, when Mitch Allard was assisted by Caige Sterzer and Aughe at 19:14.5.
Head Coach Rick Zombo exclaimed, “What a great team win. So proud of the team for a complete 60 minutes. Trent’s first shutout was being talked about on our bench with 10 minutes remaining.”
The two teams will face off again on November 18th at 2:10 pm at the Centene Community Ice Center.
