HANCOCK — With a young team that featured just three seniors, two of which are goaltenders, Finlandia Lions head coach Joe Burcar knew his team would go through some growing pains.

Saturday night, the Lions’ final game of the 2020-21 season, was a great example of that, as the Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Lawrence Vikings only to eventually fall, 5-2, at the Houghton County Arena.

Through it all, Burcar praised his players for finding a way to play despite the list of off-ice issues they had to deal with just to get to play a season.

“We got to play this year, but I said it many times before, I just give these guys a lot of credit right now,” he said. “We have a lot of talent. There’s too much going on for them. It’s just been lucky that we’re able to play, but it’s been a challenge.”

For 20 minutes, the Lions (1-7 overall, 1-7 NCHA) looked like a team destined to win their second game of the season after captain Tyler Watungwa potted a shorthanded tally and freshman defenseman Blake Gutterman picked up his second point of the night by blasting a shot past Vikings (4-4 overall, 4-4 NCHA) netminder Brian Tellieu while on the power play.

Watungwa’s goal, which came 8:36 into the contest, was the product of the kind of hard work that Burcar praises regularly with the added caveat that it is “just one of the reasons he wears the ‘C.'”

“His attitude, his work ethic on and off the ice, sets the bar so high for everybody else,” said Burcar. “In the gym, in the puck pit, he understands his opponent. He’s just a student of the game. He’s worked extremely hard in his time here. That’s why he’s got the ‘C’ on his jersey.”

Gutterman, a first-year player that had Burcar and his staff excited prior to the season, scored all five of his points on the season in the last six games. His power play goal came at 19:03 off a feed from assistant captain Tyler Vanuden.

“(He’s a) freshman that has so much upside,” Burcar said. “It’s so hard to judge guys in an eight-game season. 

“We know we got something pretty special there. In some ways, you wish the season was going, because he is just starting to come into his own. We’re excited to have him for a while.”

During the first intermission, assistant captain Cale Markham was rushed to a hospital after taking a hit late in the first period. Early in the second, Vanuden collapsed on the ice after taking a hit as well. He had to crawl back to the bench. 

With two of their top players sidelined, the Lions tried to even the score, rather than focus on winning the hockey game. It cost them in the long run, despite Vanuden’s return later in the period.

Shortly after Vanuden went down, freshman winger Cooper Hoheisel took a major penalty for high sticking. During the delayed penalty, the Vikings’ Tyler Jensen scored at 2:34. 

On the ensuing major power play, the Vikings struck again when Davis Kirkendall tipped a shot from Kyle Gierman past Lions goaltender Marcus Gloss at 5:33.

A handful of minutes after that, Lions sophomore center Phil Schader took a penalty for goaltender interference. While the Vikings did not score on the advantage, the did strike just one second after as Lions freshman winger Cameron Conover attempted to block a shot from Brandon Halvorsen that bounced over Gloss’ shoulder and in.

That third goal ended Gloss’ night, but not before he broke the school record for career saves with 1,813, topping Ryan Donovan who set the previous mark (1,799) in 2011.

“We know what Marcus has given us over the years,” said Burcar. “Tonight, he became the all-time saves leader in our program. I just told the team, ‘he was the first guy to commit wher=n we came in to turn this program around. Marcus means a lot to us, to this program.”

James Scott and Will Robertson added goals to the Vikings’ total in the third by beating Lions senior goaltender Santeri Seppinen to seal the win.

LU 0 3 2 — 5

FU 2 0 0 — 2

First Period–Scoring–1, FU, Watungwa (Schader, Gutterman), 8:36, sh. 2, FU, Gutterman (Vanuden, Brett), 19:03, pp.

Second Period–Scoring–3, LU, Jensen (Robertson, Quirk), 2:34. 4, LU, Kirkendall (Gierman, DeCroock), PP, 5:33, pp. 5, LU, Halvorsen (Weyerhaeuser), 11:06.

Third Period–Scoring–6, LU, Scott (Plekhov), :09. 7, LU, Robertson (Gierman, Jensen), 4:04.

Goalies–LU, Tallieu, 8-2-7–17 saves. Benedetto, LU  0  0  2 – 2. FU, Gloss, 11-6-0–17. FU Seppinen, 0-4-13–17.

Power-play Opportunities–LU 2 of 7. FU 1 of 6.

Penalties-minutes–LU 7-14. FU 9-29.