In a close thriller, the Leo Lions managed to stay strong against the Fort Wayne Vipers. Ben Marques got the nod for the Fort Wayne Vipers in the Black and Red as Alex Mulholland dons the Lavender and Black for the Lions.

1st period

Dylan Davis opened the scoring for the Lions -and would later put up a three-point night- on a pass from Riley Murphy about two minutes into the game. 30 seconds later, Darcy Koch knocked in a goal from Logan Ormsby to tie it up. Leo would go to the box for the first time for a roughing call on Caden Austin. Leo’s Weston Roth would notch the go-ahead goal in this back-and-forth contest, Dylan Davis along with Aaron Amick for the helpers. The last penalty of the period would go to the Vipers when Keaton Rice went off for interference.

2nd period

The Vipers would head to the box again, this time, Elijah Westoff went for tripping. Dylan Davis would score his second of the contest off a feed from Colton Calhoun to get that insurance goal. Hudson Roth for Leo and Koch for Fort Wayne would each get offsetting penalties for roughing. Micheal Scully would head to the box for a slash. The next goal came off of Aaron Amick’s stick with assists from his brother, Austin and Hudson Roth. Leo’s three-goal lead did not hold long as Jack Backstrom had a goal from Micheal Scully then assisted Keaton Rice to make it 4-3. Weston Roth would head back to the penalty box for Leo for a crosscheck and Austin Amick made his name known on the scoresheet with a high sticking call. The Fort Wayne Vipers would pull out with the tying goal from Robert Gross to Christian Brown. Jonah Haines marched his way to the box for a roughing call. Leo’s troubles would continue as Alexander Mulholland would get the hook for Drew Baumert to make his game debut in the dying moments of the second.

3rd period

Both starting goaltenders would evacuate their position as Ben Marques for the Vipers was relieved from his duties in exchange for Cam Clarke. The Vipers would notch their own go-ahead goal off a feed from Jackson Bertels and Darcy Koch. Christian Brown for Fort Wayne would get a 10 and 2 for charging. In the same play, the Lions tied up the game, Sammy Schwartz would get a feed from Colton Calhoun to make it 5-5.

Overtime passes through five minutes with a few good looks but nothing on the sheet. Aaron Amick scored the final goal for the Leo Lions to help them pull out a win. The Lions had 23 shots on net as the Vipers had 39.

This article was writen by Fiona Quinn.