Finlandia forward Nate Holm looks for a pass during a game earlier this season at the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. (Photo courtesy of Finlandia University)

HANCOCK — After losing 3-1 against No. 4 St. Norbert 3-1 on Saturday, No. 19, the Finlandia Lions entered this past weekend looking to build off a strong finish before their Thanksgiving break. Saturday night, they appeared well on their way to doing so, leading 3-1, but the Lake Forest Foresters stormed back with four straight goals to win, 5-3, sending the Lions reeling.

After multiple lineup adjustments Sunday, the Lions bounced back and capped the weekend with their first regulation win of the season, 2-0.

The shutout by sophomore goaltender Dakota Meyer was the first shutout by the Lions since Jan. 11, 2019.

Lions coach Joe Burcar felt that his group, which improved to 1-7-1 overall and 1-5 in NCHA play with the win, still had a lot of learning to do after the game on Saturday, especially after freshman Owen Schmidt struck 3:29 into the second period to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.

“We scored, and the bench acted like we won the Stanley Cup,” said Burcar. “Like they really believed they had the game. It was over. This is the middle of the second period. You could just see the wheels, kind of slowing down, slowing down, and slowing down.”

Burcar and his staff tried to stem the tide, but it was already too late.

“We could never regain what we had from the start into that second period,” he said. “We played awfully good hockey to put ourselves in a 3-1 position. I think that was just another little hard lesson.”

The loss became an important teaching moment for the players.

“It’s just learning how to win,” Burcar said. “It’s not getting too high, and it’s not getting too low. I thought we really got too high when we scored, and we scored a beautiful third goal. We really did. We scored a beautiful second goal. There were too many highs, and the emotions just drained them.”

Sunday, with some lineup changes, Burcar and his staff challenged the team to be better, and they responded well.

Junior forward P.J. Donnelly scored his second goal of the weekend, and of the season, off a faceoff play early in the third period to give the Lions the lead. Freshman winger Matteo Ybarra then sealed the win at 19:26, when he scored into the empty net.

“We didn’t change the game plan, really, that much,” said Burcar. “We tweaked a couple things that we got to expose on Saturday night, but the vibe was good. The response was obviously great.”

Lions find a scoring line

In recent weeks, Burcar and his staff have cycled wingers alongside Donnelly and assistant captain Max Messier, looking for someone to fit on the right side. This weekend, Burcar moved Donnelly to the right wing position and kept Messier at center. That gave the coaching staff the chance to try Ybarra on the left wing.

On Friday, all three were involved in Donnelly’s goal at 18:15 of the first period. Saturday, Messier picked up an assist on Donnelly’s goal. Then Donnelly and Messier both assisted on Ybarra’s empty net goal.

“They just are in sync, Max and PJ, and Matteo certainly gets that,” said Burcar. “(We) thought the switch, putting P.J. on to the side to get the offensive shot, and a quick release, that’s something. We will show that clip over and over. This is a teaching clip. For P.J., that was, as hard as he works, we’re just happy to see that connection, and that type of goal, in that type of situation.”

Scouting the Pipers

This weekend, the Lions remain home to face the Hamline Pipers. The Pipers are 3-6-1 on the season after dropping a pair of games last weekend to Concordia (Minnesota), 6-3 and 2-1.

The Pipers have wins this season over Saint Mary’s, Northland and Wisconsin-River Falls.

Senior forward Sam Dabrowski leads the team in goals (5) and points (8) through 10 games. Junior forward Bailey Sommers is also having a strong season with two goals and six points through 10 games.

Between the pipes, senior Kevin Lake has seen the most action, starting nine games and going 3-6-0 over that span. He has a 2.92 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.

Game times

Friday night’s contest between the Lions and Pipers is set to start at 7:15 p.m. at the Houghton County Arena. Saturday’ game is set to start at 4 p.m.