Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Docksteader, Bierema total 10 goals in sweep of Richmond
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's D2 Hockey
Sophomore forward Devon Docksteader and freshman forward Tim Bierema each netted hat tricks for Liberty University ACHA Division II men's hockey team in Friday night's first game of a two-game sweep against the Richmond Generals Junior "B" team at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Docksteader scored four goals Friday — three into the upper right corner and one on a wraparound — when the Flames recorded the last five in a row, breaking open a one-goal game in a 9-3 triumph.
"A lot of the shots were open in the slot," Docksteader said. "In the third period, everyone stepped up (offensively)."
Docksteader picked up right where he left off in Saturday's rematch, a 5-1 win. He scored the game's first goal on a left-handed slapshot from the center of the slot, assisted by junior forward Paul Ingles' crossing pass at the 17:10 mark of the first period.
A minute and a half later, graduate forward Caleb Grow capitalized on a breakaway for his first goal of the year, lifting a one-on-one wrist shot from in the right crease into the upper left corner.
"He's going to be a great player for us this year," senior defenseman Jackson Kuhn said. "Obviously, just a super strong skater and has the ability to score so it's really nice to see him coming alive."
With 5:10 remaining in the opening period, Kuhn received a crossing pass from senior forward Jeff Boschman and one-timed his slap shot top shelf to lift Liberty to a 3-0 lead.
"It was a great pass by Bosch and I was just glad to get the goal from the team," Kuhn said. "I'd kind of been snake-bitten for the first three games, so it's nice to finally pot one today. I've really been working on my one-timer a lot. That's probably the one shot I didn't have so this summer, that's what I went to work on, that quick release on the one-timer."
The Flames outshot the Generals 44-18 for Saturday's contest, including 19-4 in the opening 20 minutes.
"We had a really strong first period, which was reflected in the turnovers, the number of hits, the shots on goal," Liberty Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "That mostly revolved around intensity. The guys knew they weren't happy and we weren't happy as coaches (after Friday's slow start), so they were dedicated to righting that ship."
Docksteader scored the only goal of the second period on a play orchestrated by Kuhn, who sent a crossing outlet to Ingles. He slipped a pass through to Docksteader in the right crease where he deked around the goalie and deposited the puck into the cage.
"It was a very productive weekend for Docksteader, and that's a good sign for us and a bad sign for our future opponents," Lowes said. "He seems to be adding a few new tricks to his bag and is going to look to build on his season last year."
"When your cousin is Mike Fisher and plays in the NHL (as a winger for the Nashville Predators), good things are going to happen," Kuhn said of Docksteader.
Richmond finally got on the scoreboard in the third period before the Flames capped the scoring on a spectacular assist by Grow. He took a hip check from a Generals defender in the left circle but maintained control of the puck as he went down before sending a backhanded shovel pass back through to Bierema, who slipped it under the goalie's pads.
"Bierema has had a very productive start for a freshman," Lowes said. "He has been very impressive. His response to our game plan, his intensity level has really been good across the board, so I've really been happy with his first two weekends."
Liberty, which improved to 4-0 with wins over Potomac Patriots' Junior "A" and "B" teams last weekend and a sweep of the Generals, opens ACHA DII play next Saturday against Millersville (Pa.), starting at 6 p.m. at LaHaye.
"Preseason's all about getting better as a team and trying to get some chemistry going," Kuhn said.
"We've got a lot to work on," Lowes added. "Special teams was a little shaky this weekend. Hopefully, those things will come around. You can't afford to drop games you're supposed to win and for ranking purposes, we need every win we can get."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
