GENEVA, Ill. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team dropped a 5-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association decision to No. 5 Aurora University on Saturday at the Fox Valley Ice Arena.
    The Spartans (8-2-0, 6-2-0 NCHA) broke the game open with two goals late in the opening period and tacked on two more in the third to pull away.
    Aurora led 1-0 after a goal early in the opening period, but Will Crull scored for the Vikings at the 7:27 mark to tie the game at 1-1. Crull's goal came off assists from Ethan Beaumont and Miles McCue.
    Hassan Akl and Chase Broda both scored in the final 5:54 of the opening period for a 3-1 lead. Aurora then scored twice in a span of 2:21 midway through the third to push the advantage to four goals.
    Nolan Mahaffey made 43 saves for Lawrence (3-8-2, 2-5-1), and Matt O'Donnell stopped 20 shots for the Spartans.