HANCOCK — Looking for a little of what they gained last season during their opening weekend, the Finlandia Lions hockey team returned to River Falls, Wisconsin, to take on the Falcons. When the final buzzer sounded Saturday night, the Lions came away with two losses and a lot of lessons learned.

“Number one, we’re disappointed that we lost two games on the weekend, but from a standpoint of energy and attitude, of don’t quit on a weekend, we sure showed that throughout the weekend,” said Lions head coach Joe Burcar. “In the Saturday loss, with five minutes to go, we’re killing off five minutes of 5-on-3. There was no quit. Guys were still laying down blocking shots, battling on faceoffs. We are proud of that part, very proud of that part.”

In Friday’s 3-2 loss in overtime, the Lions evened things late when captain Connor Hannon buried a shot at 18:25 of the final frame, forcing the extra session. Sophomore Teddy Randell, who already had one assist on the night, picked up a second on the tally.

Hannon, who is one of the highest scoring forwards in Houghton Gremlins history, spent the weekend working from the blue line. As he grows into his new role, Burcar sees him and his teammates learning when to jump up and push the offense.

Assistant captain Dylan Paavola scored the other goal 12:32 into the middle frame.

Saturday, the Falcons struck just 1:13 in, and though Hannon evened things shorthanded before the end of the first period, the Lions were visibly rattled, as Burcar put it.

“We’ve talked about that a lot,” he said. “The difference was, you know, we got a little rattled, or we didn’t get rattled on Friday. They scored early in the game, I think that threw us off. I know that threw us off a little bit, they scored 1:13 into the game.

“They had a great start, we had a bad start, and they scored right away, but we came back. We tied it on a short handed goal at the end of the first. The second period, I just think there was a lot of things, whether we agreed with the calls with the officials or they scored a goal where they got behind us, it was just a couple things that just didn’t sit well with our players. (We had) a hard time dealing with that.”

The Falcons added two goals and two more in the third as the Lions gave up seven power plays and three power play goals in the contest.

Junior Marcus Gloss made 33 saves in the overtime loss on Friday. Junior Santeri Seppinen made 35, including 16 in the third, Saturday. Burcar was extremely pleased with the efforts of both goaltenders on the night.

This weekend, the Lions are at home, where they will open their NCHA schedule with a pair of games against Aurora. The Lion topped the Spartans. 2-1, in their only meeting last season on Jan. 4.

The Spartans come into the weekend having swept St. Olaf College last weekend, 4-2 and 6-2. Burcar knows his team will have its work cut out in the matchup.

“They’re going to be a good team,” said Burcar. “They’re an offensive team. They have a good goalie in (Josh) Boyko. So it’s going to be a great challenge. They run a little bit different system, where they have more involvement from their defense like we do.”

Sophomore Larry Jungwirth leads the team in scoring with three goals and five points through two games. Freshman forwards Adam Keyes and Jack Jaunich are also off to quick starts with four points each.

Boyko, a junior, is off to a good start in goal, with a 2.01 goals against average and a .907 save percentage through two games.

This season, the NCHA has changed the men’s schedule so that teams play weekend series, instead of two different opponents. Burcar is excited by the advantage of getting to see a team twice in a weekend.

“The last couple of years, you’re focused on Friday night’s game through the week in practices,” said Burcar. “Right after Friday night’s game, coaching staffs get together and you’re cramming information going into Saturday’s game, sometimes in less than 24 hours.

“To prep them, you’re traveling from whatever city into another city, especially on the road, which is always a challenge. This is nice that we can focus on one opponent and stay in one hotel, and it helps in so many different ways.”

Game times

The Lions and Spartans face off Friday at 7:15 p.m. at the Houghton County Arena. The two teams will battle at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Women’s team searching for offense

Through three games this season, the Finlandia Lions women’s hockey team has scored five goals. With a week off before traveling to face the Spartans, the Lions are looking for ways to improve their scoring.

The good news through three games, all five goals have come from five different scorers. Abby Kolek and Bella Abear scored in an 8-2 loss to St. Catherine to open the season. The Lions then got goals from Kylee Dyni and Brenna Ceglar in a 5-2 loss to St. Catherine on Saturday.

Kait Ryynanen scored the Lions’ lone tally Tuesday in a 2-1 loss to Northland. The senior has eight shots on goal, which is a good sign for head coach Matt Marchel’s squad moving forward.