Club hockey falls in semifinals

Delaware's club ice hockey team couldn't get past the semifinals of the national championship, losing to Lindenwood 2-0 on Tuesday night.

The Hens had plenty of shots, but struggled to get them on net. When they did, Lindenwood goalie Robi Cavallari made several impressive saves.

"We had a lot of opportunities that we weren't able to take advantage of," head coach M.F. Schurman. "I thought my guys worked hard and gave it a solid effort. That's all I can ask them for."

Lindenwood opened the scoring with approximately five minutes left in the first period on Colin Long's backhand shot from right in front of the net. Throughout the whole first period, Delaware had a hard time clearing the zone. On the offensive end, the Hens struggled to keep possession of the puck.

Things turned around in the second period. After a slow start, both teams started controlling the puck better, having lengthy possessions and getting more opportunities. The Hens missed several breakaway chances due to bouncing or mishandled pucks.

"Just got to bare down," junior Kevin Miller said. "We missed the net, had two breakaways. We choked on them, but its hockey, it happens, the puck rolls any given way."

As the second period wound down, Lindenwood's leading scorer, Cory Spradling, put one past Delaware goalie S.J. Broadt., giving the Hens 20 minutes to come back from a 2-0 deficit that took them only one minute to overcome two days earlier.

But the Hens had no such luck on Tuesday.

The third period started with multiple Delaware chances, including one miss right in front of the net off a rebound. With 2:51 left, Lindenwood was called for a penalty, giving Delaware a one-man advantage for the next two minutes. After pulling their goalie, the Hens had a six-to-four advantage, but still couldn't get the ball in the net. Once Lindenwood killed the final power play, the fans started emptying the bleachers and time ran out without much drama.

"It's tough to go out like that, especially when you play a game that you could've definitely won," senior Brandon Weiner said. "The positive is we stuck in there with the No. 1 team in the country."

Most of the Hens' players will return next year. The only seniors are Weiner, Dave Lombardi, Zack Reubel and Aleks Volkov.

"The experience will help us for next year, and I think we'll be back," Schurman said. "Our goal is to win the whole thing next year."