Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Flames rebound from JMU loss by routing Radford, Loyola
10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's D3 Hockey
Liberty University's ACHA Division III men's hockey team rung up three goals in a span of four minutes midway through the third period against Loyola (Md.) to stretch a 4-3 lead to a 7-3 victory, Sunday morning at the LaHaye Ice Center.
After Loyola's Trevor Agostino completed his hat trick to bring the Greyhounds back within one goal with 13:59 remaining in regulation, sophomore forward Jarrod Beresid started the late surge by the Flames (5-1) with his second goal off assists from sophomore forward Caleb Weesner and senior left winger Paul Brueckner 55 seconds later.
Brandon Cockburn then finished his second goal of the game off a fast-break feed from fellow senior forward Chad Docksteader, who capped the scoring with his second goal on a shorthanded putback of a shot by Cockburn in the left side of the goal.
Liberty was playing without four players—senior defenseman Austin Wagner, senior forward Kyle Burman, freshman defenseman Sean Bakker, and sophomore forward Chase Evangelista — who were serving multiple-game suspensions from last Saturday's 7-5 loss to James Madison University and Friday night's 6-0 rout of Radford.
"We were obviously missing some guys but everyone kind of stepped up," said Docksteader, who normally plays on the same line as Burman. "With the new line changes, we haven't had time to practice really, but everyone worked well together and worked hard. Our team definitely kept their composure and kept battling through, even though they had a little momentum near the end of the second period."
Last season, Docksteader, Cockburn, and senior defenseman Drew Muir played together in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference (BRHC) All-Star game in Hershey, Pa.
Friday night against the Highlanders, Burman got the Flames' going offensively by burying a slapshot from the top of the right circle, near the blue line, before senior forward Gregory Haywood fired a slapshot into the upper netting off assists from Cockburn, Docksteader, and freshman defenseman Connor Sheehey.
Last Saturday at a neutral site in Charlottesville, Liberty led longtime rival JMU 4-1 going into the third period before coming up on the short end of the stick after getting into penalty trouble and having players ejected for retaliating out of frustration.
"We kind of stopped skating," Docksteader said. "We thought we had won the game at that point and we just didn't come out for a good third period. We got a lot of penalties and they capitalized."
The Flames and Dukes will have a rematch on Friday at 9:15 p.m. at LaHaye before hosting BRHC Colonial South Division foe UNC Wilmington on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
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| Senior forward Chad Docksteader maneuvers the puck. |
Liberty hopes to move up in the rankings to have a better shot at advancing in the South Regionals this season, after being seeded 10th and being eliminated by No. 3 Alabama in the first round.
"That was the first time DIII had been to regionals, so our team is progressively getting better and better, which is good to see, from the time that I've been here," Docksteader said. "Brandon (Cockburn) and (Drew) Muir and Kyle Burman and Markus Deas are seniors, so we've got a lot of leadership on the team, which is great. We have the ability. It just depends on how much we want it and how hard we're going to work together."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
