AURORA, Ill. – A day removed from taking them to a shootout, the MSOE men's hockey team closed out their weekend series with #3 Aurora University with a heartbreaking 6-3 loss after squandering an early 3-0 lead.

FINAL SCORE
MSOE RAIDERS – 3

#3 Aurora - 3

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MSOE (10-8-4, 5-7-3 NCHA) controlled the puck early before Aurora (18-3-1, 12-2-1 NCHA) went on the powerplay at the 8:51 mark of the first.  Despite a couple clean looks, Austin Schwab and the MSOE defense stood tall, killing off the penalty before Eddie Shepler put the Red and White on the board at the 16:47 mark.  Not even a minute later, Jacob Bosse found Jackson Yee to put the Raiders up 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
• Coming out of the intermission, MSOE would go on the powerplay after an Aurora holding penalty.  The Raiders would cycle the puck as Carson Jones and Cole Beilke were initially turned away but persevered as Jones found Beilke who buried the puck in the back of the net to give MSOE a 3-0 lead.  After a small scrum midway through the period led to a Raiders powerplay flipping to one for the Spartans, as Aurora connected to cut the MSOE led to two goals.  With just under four minutes to play in the second, the Spartans would add their second goal, and an MSOE interference penalty would send the opposition to the powerplay.  Aurora would knot the game up at 17:51 of the second period as the Raiders and Spartans went to the final frame at a 3-3 stalemate.
• The Raiders would get the first crack at a fourth goal following an Aurora tripping penalty, but the Spartans would hold strong, denying Beilke his second goal.  A slashing penalty against the Red and White would immediately give the Spartans a powerplay of their own, as Aurora took their first lead of the game with just under fifteen minutes remaining.  Now trailing 4-3, MSOE looked to get back on track, but a high-sticking penalty put the Spartans back on the powerplay.  After converting once more, Aurora was in the driver's seat after taking a 5-3 advantage and from there it was all Spartans as they would add one more before send the Raiders back to Milwaukee.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Shots – Cole Beilke (4)
Goals – Three with one
Assists – Carson Jones and Jacob Bosse (1)
Saves – Austin Schwab (26)

WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders will kick-off a pivotal series with Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois on Friday, February 14^th.  Drop of the puck is set for 7:00 P.M.

For up-to-the-minute MSOE Raiders news, visit us at www.MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter @MSOE_Raiders and @msoe_raiders on Instagram.