APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University saw its season end with a pair of losses on Saturday.
The Vikings lost Saturday’s Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinal playoff series game 5-2 to Northland College. That loss tied the series at 1-1 and forced a mini-game.
Northland (10-16-1) won the mini-game 1-0 on a late goal, and the Lumberjacks won a quarterfinal series for the first time in their history.
Lawrence (8-16-3) dominated all but the first few minutes of the mini-game. The Vikings outshot the Lumberjacks 16-8 and survived an early penalty that put Northland on the power play.
The winning goal came with just 2:02 left in the 20-minute mini-game. Matt Lennon got the rebound off his own shot and put it past Lawrence goaltender Fabian Sivnert.
Lawrence had one last opportunity when the Lumberjacks were whistled for hooking just 17 seconds later. The Vikings put serious pressure on Northland goaltender Mason Riley, who made two saves during the power play, including one at point-blank range on Phil Bushbacher’s shot.
Northland finally cleared the puck from its zone with about 15 seconds left, and that sealed the win.
The Lumberjacks overcame a 2-0 deficit to win game two of the series. Lawrence got a goal from Rudi Pino just 6:16 into the first period for a 1-0 edge. The Vikings made it 2-0 when Paul Zuke scored off an assist from Pino just 1:01 into the second period.
Northland then took advantage of a pair of power plays and got goals from Kraig Wright and Matt Lennon to tie the game at 2-2 heading to the third period.
Northland, which went 3-for-5 on the power play, got a power-play goal from Mike Lennon 6:24 into the third to take a 3-2 lead. Wright scored again at 11:24 to push the lead to 4-32, and the Lumberjacks added an empty-net goal in the final minute.