page_title: Lindenwood–Belleville Lynx women's ice hockey
section_title: 2019–20
hierarchical_section_title: Lindenwood–Belleville Lynx women's ice hockey / History / 2019–20
caption_attribution_description: Program and tournament pass for the 2020 WMCH conference tournament, held in St. Louis, MO from March 6-8
context_page_description: The Lindenwood–Belleville Lynx women's ice hockey team represented Lindenwood University – Belleville in Women's Division 1 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and in Women's Midwest College Hockey, following a successful stint in the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League. The team was founded for the 2014–15 season, as part of a rapid expansion of LU–B's athletic department, and quickly became one of the ACHA's top programs. The Lynx claimed three regular season conference championships and one playoff title, and qualified for five ACHA National Tournaments, highlighted by a second-place finish in 2019.
context_section_description: The early part of the 2019 offseason brought the disastrous news of the cessation of Lindenwood–Belleville's athletic program due to Lindenwood's system-wide restructuring, making 2019–20 the Lynx's final season. To make matters worse, Hannah resigned in the aftermath of the decision, and Andrew Miller eventually took over to steer the team through the campaign.
  If the Lynx could have been considered a lame duck, they hardly showed it through their play, as LU–B boasted a 28–6–0 overall record against one of the nation's toughest schedules. Lindenwood–Belleville, along with five other top programs (Liberty, McKendree, Midland, Minnesota, and Minot State), formed a new ACHA conference, Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH). All six WMCH teams would go on to finish in the ACHA's top ten, but the Lynx nevertheless managed a 12–2–0 record within the league. The obvious highlight of those games was a 2–1–0 mark against Liberty, the two-time defending national champions that had, of course, defeated LU–B in the 2019 title game. On September 29, 2019, the Lynx rallied for a split with the Flames with a 4–1 victory behind goals by Williams, Gillis, McAlpine, and Sydney Spicer. LU–Belleville also defeated Liberty on November 8, 2019 while defending their title at the Robert Morris Showcase in Chicago. LU–B also played six other games against teams that would finish in the top ten, going 3–3–0 in those contests.
  While the Lynx were largely led by the same core that came on board in 2016–17 and 2017–18, one key addition was Megan Norris, a rookie from Innisfil, Ontario. Norris scored 25 times (including a tear of 17 over her last 13 games) to finish second in ACHA Division 1 goal scoring, highlighted by a four-goal performance at WMCH playoffs to collect first team all-tournament honors. Veterans Williams and Gillis – the team's captains in 2019–20 – enjoyed their typically-productive seasons and were both All-WMCH and All-American selections.
  Lindenwood–Belleville hosted the inaugural WMCH playoffs at the FSI Shark Tank and opened up with a thorough 6–0 first round defeat of Midland, highlighted by a Norris hat trick. However, LU–B dropped from title contention the next day when Minot State took a 1–0 win in the semifinals, avenging a pair of early-season wins by the Lynx. The team did manage to bounce back to win the consolation game against McKendree, completing a perfect 6–0–0 record against their St. Louis-area rivals.
  Despite the disappointment of the WMCH loss, the Lynx easily qualified for the ACHA National Tournament for the fifth straight time and were set to take on sixth-seeded Michigan State in the quarterfinals until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament's cancellation, leaving an ambiguous conclusion to the program's existence.
caption: LU–B started a new conference, the WMCH, with five other powerhouse programs in 2019–20
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