GENEVA, Ill. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team gave No. 2 Aurora University all it could handle on Saturday before the Spartans hung on for a 4-2 win in a Harris Cup quarterfinal playoff series game.
    Aurora (23-3-1) won the series 2-0 and advances to the semifinals. Lawrence ends the season with a 7-17-2 record.
    The Spartans led 2-0 after the opening period at Fox Valley Ice Arena, but Lawrence battled back in the second. After Aurora's Chase Broda was whistled for interference at the 6:17 mark, the Vikings quickly cashed in. Josh Danis scored a power-play goal off assists from Carter Cloutier and Jayden Jensen at 7:53 to trim the lead to 2-1.
    Lawrence went 1-for-6 on the power play, and Aurora was 2-for-7.
    The score stayed that way until the 8:41 mark of the third when Landry Schmuck scored to give Aurora a 3-1 advantage.
    Lawrence pulled close again late in the contest. The Vikings pulled goaltender Nolan Mahaffey for an extra attacker while Lawrence was attacking the Aurora net. Hayden Johnson corraled a loose puck and fired it into the net from a tough angle to trim the lead back to 3-2 with 1:22 remaining. Will Crull and Cody Brekke both picked up assists on Johnson's score.
    Lawrence pulled Mahaffey again, but the Spartans sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.
    Mahaffey finished with 27 saves for the Vikings, and Jacob Mucitelli stopped 25 shots for Aurora.