APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team clinched a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association playoff berth with a 4-1 victory over Finlandia University on Thursday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
  The Vikings are in the playoffs but will not learn who they will face in the NCHA quarterfinals until play is completed this weekend. Lawrence wraps up the regular season when they travel to Finlanda on Saturday and try for the series sweep.
  In a workmanlike performance, the Vikings seized control early and held it throughout the contest. Lawrence (3-4-0, 3-4-0 NCHA) scored twice in the opening period and added two third-period goals to seal the win. Lawrence piled up a 43-21 advantage in shots on goal, and got a great performance in net from junior
Alex Mosquera. He stopped 20 shots to pick up the win, and Ben Kelsch made 39 saves for Finlandia (1-6-0, 1-6-0).
  Lawrence got on the board first when
Zach Lodes punched home a shot from the back door on a nice centering pass from
Tyler Jensen at the 7:53 mark of the first.
Ivan Galaguzov also picked up an assist on the play. The Vikings made it 2-0 at the 13:39 mark of the first when rookie
Oliver DeCroock scored off a feed from
Vincent Dekumbis and
Davis Kirkendall.
  The Lions trimmed the margin to 2-1 with a goal midway through second period, but Lawrence took control again in the third.
  After ringing shots off the pipe three times, Lawrence pushed the lead to 3-1 with the help of a power play. After Sheldon Brett was sent off for holding, Lawrence cashed in on the man-advantage. Kirkendall scored off passes from Galaguzov and
Kyle Gierman at the 16:08 mark to put the Vikings up by two. Lawrence went 1-for-5 on the power play, and Finlandia was 0-for-4.
  The Lions pulled Kelsch for an extra attacker, but Lawrence quickly gained control of the puck and
Zack Olen scored the empty-net goal with assists going to Gierman and Kirkendall with just 1:47 remaining. That capped a three-point night for Kirkendall as he finished with a goal and two assists.
