April 12, 2013
Lindenwood eeks out a win, Long Beach State advances to Elite 8
Courtesy of NCRHA Coast to Coast's Kyle Jones
The first of two games of the Division I Sweet 16 was as exciting and unexpected as any. Lindenwood took on Arizona State and Long BeachState faced off against Pittsburgh. Lindenwood jumped out to an early 3-goal lead and looked as if the Lions were going to run away with this game. But Arizona State had a never-say-die attitude and hung with LU. ASU cut the lead to 1 with 7:30 remaining in the game on a controversial no-call boarding penalty which seemed to lead directly to the the Sun Devils goal. Some stellar defensive stops led Lindenwood to a 6-5 victory.
Fresh off their win against favored Grand Valley State, upset-minded Pittsburgh skated with the 49ers of Long Beach State. Pittsburgh kept it close in the beginning, ending the first period tied 2-2, but in the end the strong WCRHL team proved to be too much. Long Beach scored four goals in the second period and they never looked back. Long Beach won by a score of 7-3.
Long Beach State and Lindenwood will face off in an Elite 8 matchup tonight at 6:30 pm. These two teams have a history at Nationals. They have played each other three times with the series tied at 1-1-1. This game promises to be a great matchup between two of the nation's top teams.