Finlandia defenseman Chris Beyer attempts a shot during a game against Marian on Friday, Feb. 3, at the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

Lions rally to clip Falcons in overtime

HANCOCK — SISU and a raucous crowd drove the Finlandia Lions men’s hockey team (3-14-1 NCHA, 4-18-2) to a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win over Concordia (Wis.) (4-13-1 NCHA, 4-20-1), Friday night at the Houghton County Arena.

For the first five minutes, Finlandia and Concordia each had several chances that just missed. At the 5:30 mark, freshman Matteo Ybarra scored to put the Lions up 1-0.

The Falcons then stunned the rowdy HOCO crowd scoring twice in 17 seconds. The rest of the game, defense and strong goaltending were the benchmarks.

Concordia scored just under five minutes into the second period for a 3-1 lead. At the 10:28 mark, junior Nate Holm scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2.

At the 6:56 mark of the third period, freshman Owen Schmidt took advantage of two great passes to tie the game at 3-3. FinnU had two shots topped by great plays in the final minute of the period.

In overtime, sophomore Max Messier won the opening face-off, took the puck down and scored just eight ticks into the extra frame to set the crowd on fire.

On faceoffs, Messier had 14 wins, sophomore Nick Solema had 12 wins and freshman James Eng had 10. Sophomore Dakota Meyer finished with 19 saves.

Lions comeback to tie Falcons, 4-4

HANCOCK — Everything was left on the ice as the Lions battled to a 4-4 tie with the Falcons Saturday afternoon at the Houghton County Arena.

It was a mirror image of Friday, 65 minutes of hard-nosed tough hockey.  Concordia scored at the 5:22 mark of the first period for the early lead.

With 4:44 left in the period, Ybarra evened the score for Finlandia. Just 12 seconds later, the Falcons stunned the crowd by taking the lead back.

The Lions continued to fight, and Messier woke up the crowd scoring just in front of the horn.  That made it 2-2.

The second period was also furious with three total goals scored.  Concordia got two and junior Nate Holm tallied for FinnU. Schmidt just missed as the middle period ended.

In the final period, Finlandia was all over the Falcons outshooting them 15-3.  With time running out, the Lions pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.

It paid off as sophomore Brendan Erickson scored with 2:10 left to tie it up.  In overtime, Gabe Rosek and Meyer had several great saves.

The game officially ended in a tie. A shootout was held to determine points in the league standings. The Falcons won the shootout 1-0.

On faceoffs, Messier had 17 wins. Meyer finished with 22 saves.

Finlandia has concluded the 2022-23 season.