Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Flames will showcase speed on Delaware's Olympic-sized ice
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
When Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team hosted Delaware in mid-November, a Midnight Mayhem capacity crowd stoked the Flames to their first win of the season at the renovated LaHaye Ice Center.
Though the Blue Hens salvaged a split later in the day, the victory showed Liberty, ranked No. 18 at the time as it is again in this week's poll, could compete with the 2012 ACHA DI national champions.
In order to move up the rankings and back into position to receive its ninth ACHA DI national championship bid in the past 10 seasons, Liberty may need to use its speed to its advantage to sweep 19th-ranked Delaware in this weekend's series on the Olympic-sized ice at Fred Rust Arena in Newark, Del. If they can win this weekend's series on the road, it will be the third consecutive season the Flames have taken three of four games from the Blue Hens.
"We're confident going into the weekend," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "It's a big two games for us. It'll be 18 vs. 16, so it will be a good battle. We're very familiar with Delaware and it will be a great two games up there."
In order to contain Delaware's attack — especially playing on the larger ice where teams can spread out their attack — Liberty must strengthen its forecheck and clamp down on its top scoring threats.
"We have to take care of our D-zone," Handy said. "If we take care of our D-zone, the sky's the limit for this team."
Junior forward Chase Harris, who scored the winning goal in Tuesday's 3-2 triumph over Virginia Tech, said the Flames play cohesively on both ends of the ice, as well as the neutral zone, to be successful throughout the season's seven-game home stretch.
"We've just got to pull together closer as a team," Harris said. "We need to keep the individual effort to a minimum and really pull together as a group of guys and find out how to mesh together and be a better team."
Scouting preview, Games 26-27: No. 18 Liberty (11-13-2) vs. No. 16 Delaware (14-9-2), Friday (9 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m.) at Fred Rust Arena. Both games will be webcast live by Delaware Ice Hockey.
Liberty scouting report: With no superstar scorers, the Flames have relied on a balanced attack to produce goals and win games, led by junior forward Robert Ward (27 points), who has only netted five goals but distributed a team-high 22 assists this season.
Senior forward and alternate captain Danny Logan ranks a close second with 26 points (11G, 15A) followed by junior forward Grant Garvin (14G, 11A), freshman defenseman Zane Schartz (5G, 18A), and Harris (7G, 8A), along with younger brother and freshman forward Owen Harris (9G, 3A).
Defensively, with sophomore head captain Ben Hughes still sidelined by injury, Liberty has relied on the powerful checks of graduate Peter Shantz, speedy skating maneuvers of senior Steven Bellew, and steady play from senior Kyle Miller and freshman Jackson Giammona and Kyle Crane to anchor the back line.
Flames goalies coach Dan Berthiaume, a former NHL goalie who will be inducted into the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Hall of Fame next weekend after playing several seasons for the Express in nearby Roanoke, Va., has platooned graduate Cary Byron (8-4, 3.82 goals-against average, 90.0 save percentage) and junior Matt Pinel (2-7, 4.22 GAA, 88.5 SP) with similar results.
Delaware scouting report: The Blue Hens, coming off back-to-back losses Jan. 16-17 at Stony Brook before having last weekend's home series against West Chester snowed out, counters with a volatile attack paced by junior forward John Redgate (16G, 14A), sophomore forward Cole Zucker (17G, 11A), and senior forward Leo Skehan (5G, 19A). Seventh-leading scorer Dan Going (9G, 5A) has netted a team-leading three game-winning goals.
In net, the Blue Hens boast two experienced goalies in junior Dylan Troiano (11-6, 2.92 GAA, 89.0 SP) and senior Patrick Rochefort (2-2, 4.13, 87.2).
All-time series: By winning seven of the past 10 meetings, the Flames have evened the overall series at 13-13-2.
Coaches: Kirk Handy is in his 16th season as Liberty's head coach with an overall record of 344-153-20. Julian Giantonio is in his first season as Delaware's head coach and has a record of 14-9-2.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
