Lions show signs of early growth as a team
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HANCOCK -- After dropping a pair of games over the weekend to the Bethel Royals, the Finlandia Lions men's hockey team looked like a group with a large learning curve in front of it.
After a 2-2 tie on Tuesday against Northland College, things look a little more like Lions coach Joe Burcar thought they might this season.
On Friday, the Lions started freshman goaltender Nick Meyering, and he surrendered four goals in 17:54 of play. Freshman Brendan Smith followed, surrendering two goals on three shots in 2:06 before the buzzer sounded to end the opening frame.
In a rare move, Burcar pulled Smith after the period ended, and instead called upon sophomore Dakota Meyer. Meyer made 25 saves over the game's final 40 minutes to help keep the Lions in the game.
Saturday, Meyer got the start and he kept the Lions close at 4-1 through two periods before the Royals broke through with four goals in the final frame.
Looking back at the final practices before Friday's game, Burcar felt as though he should have noticed that things were not where they should be.
"I take a lot of the blame," he said. "We weren't ready. We weren't. I thought we were ready, but I think the practices, I take that back on me. There was so much prep going into the first games, but the practices just got to be, I consider, they were slow and teaching."
Surrendering 16 goals in a weekend, even to a team that defeated the U.S. National Development Program 18U team, was not what the Lions wanted, or expected, to do.
"That's not our identity," said Burcar. "This isn't the team that we are. We're going to be in-your-face, hard-working. Bethel has more of a finesse team, a high skill team, and we tried to play that style. That's not our style.
"We have to be very blue collar, in your face, outwork you-type team. We're not going to win a lot of games in shootouts. We're not that high-powered offense."
While Meyer did some things in goal for the Lions, freshman forward Matteo Ybarra had a strong weekend, scoring a pair of goals. For a player who had not played organized hockey in four years, Burcar was impressed by the effort level Ybarra showed throughout the weekend.
"The kid hasn't played in four years," Burcar said. "The story is great, how he got here, just how he's stepped in and it's not like he's missed a beat.
"He's a really bright spot for a new guy coming in."
The Lions did not have to wait long for the chance to wash away the frustration from the weekend as they traveled Tuesday and fought for a tie with the Lumberjacks. The two teams did go to a shootout, where the Lions emerged with the win, but for NCAA purposes, the game ended in a tie.
Freshman forward Owen Schmidt scored both Lions goals in the contest with junior P.J. Donnelly and sophomore Alex Walsh both assisted on both tallies.
Burcar is encouraged by the play of both Ybarra and Schmidt.
"For those guys to step in, play key minutes, and score big goals for us, was unbelievable," he said. "I think it's just outstanding for them to make that impact so early on."
Having Donnelly on the scoresheet early in the season is something that Burcar hopes will continue, now that the third-year forward is finally healthy.
"It's just nice to see him back in the lineup after everything he's gone through, through his high school career," said Burcar. "Here, he's a junior. He's never been healthy, since he's been here. He's finally able to play the way he can, which is outstanding."
The Lions are off this weekend before they travel to face Aurora. With a couple of players nursing some injuries from the Bethel series, Burcar is happy to have a chance for his players to continue to learn while also getting more rest.
"We'll get those guys healthy," said Burcar. "So this is a good break for us."