APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team fought back Friday night but came up short in a 4-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association loss to St. Norbert College at the Appleton Ice Center.
    Lawrence trailed 3-0 in the second but cut that margin to 4-2 early in the third period. The Vikings appeared to have pulled closer in the final minutes, but an apparent Lawrence goal was waived off.
    The Vikings got on the board on Ethan Beaumont's goal at the 14:31 mark of the second. Jack Michels got the puck to Beaumont after a battle behind the St. Norbert net, and Beaumont popped the puck past Hunter Garvey to trim the margin to 3-1.
    St. Norbert (14-5-0, 11-2-0 NCHA) pushed the lead to 4-1 early in the third period, but the Vikings (6-13-1, 2-8-1) struck back. 
    Lawrence was on the power play when Kyle Gierman scored his first goal of the season. Gierman carried the puck between the face-off circles and fired a wrist shot past Garvey at the 5:54 mark. Lawrence finished 1-for-5 on the power play, and St. Norbert was 2-for-5.
    The Vikings still trailed by two late when they pulled goaltender Nolan Mahaffey. St. Norbert was then whistled for elbowing so the Vikings had a two-man advantage with the extra attacker on the ice. Beaumont's shot with just over a minute left looked like it went in, but officials waived it off.
    Garvey finished with 27 saves, and Mahaffey recorded 32 saves for the Vikings.
    The teams finish up the series on Saturday night at St. Norbert.