Liberty University Club Sports
Stony Brook University
No. 3 Flames battle back to complete sweep of No. 4 Seawolves in a shootout
11/6/2021 11:59:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Overcoming adversity with veteran leadership and youthful resilience, Liberty University's No. 3-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team pulled off its most improbable comeback of the season Saturday night at the LaHaye Ice Center. The Flames (10-2) rallied from a 3-1 deficit at the start of the third period to edge No. 4 Stony Brook, 4-3 in a shootout to complete a sweep of its former ESCHL rival.
"It was a gut check for our team, and we had to battle a ton of adversity all night," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "Internally as a team, we had to come together and make sure that we were unified and that we are all going to pull in the same direction."
After going 0-for-6 on the power play in Friday night's opener, the Seawolves (9-3) snapped Liberty's streak of 37 consecutive penalty kills on its home ice on its first opportunity in Saturday's rematch, lifting the Seawolves to a 1-0 lead with 17:10 left in the first period.
Leading scorer Charles Peck, stationed out in front, gathered the rebound of Joseph Slevin's shot from the top of the left circle and chipped the puck over the head of Flames junior goalie Hunter Virostek just under the crossbar.
The Seawolves struck again at the 12:51 mark when forward Conor Dempsey deflected defenseman Robert Distefano's shot from the point just inside the right post for a 2-0 lead. Stony Brook, meanwhile, killed off all three of Liberty's power play chances in the first period, turning the tables on the Flames, who had held a 2-0 advantage after the first period Friday.
Liberty appeared to get on the scoreboard in the second period on a point-blank finish by Matt Berezowski, but it was called off when the cage came off its moorings at the same time that the puck crossed the plane of the goal. Then, with 11:39 to go in the period, junior forward Matt Bartel received an outlet pass from senior defenseman Alex Norwinski and skated the puck through the right circle before sending a beautiful backhand cross-crease assist to sophomore forward Jason Foltz who slammed it into the upper netting, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Foltz nearly netted the equalizer in the closing minute on a fast-break opportunity and drew a penalty after the play, but it backfired for the Flames as the Seawolves capitalized on a turnover to add a shorthanded goal to seize a 3-1 advantage going into the second intermission. Distefano pounced on the loose puck and skated up along the right boards before cutting back in front of a fallen defenseman and tucked it under the pads of a sprawling Virostek with a second jab with 3.7 seconds left in the period.
The Flames couldn't capitalize on the final seconds of their man advantage at the start of the third period, but pulled within 3-2 at the 16:43 mark when Bartel threaded another fantastic feed across the crease, this time from near the left end line to senior defenseman Colin Baird who one-timed a forehand finish top-shelf from right out in front.
"Bartel has been incredible for us and just gets better every year," Handy said. "He works hard in practice and has had to learn the three years he's been here how to improve his craft game by game."
Liberty pulled Virostek with 1:47 remaining in regulation and generated a high-quality scoring chance soon thereafter before freshman forward Jackson Vercellono cashed in on the Flames' third goal for the second night in a row.
Vercellono, who dedicated both goals to his grandfather who died this week, finished another putback, this time of graduate defenseman Chaydan Lauber's shot from the high slot. Stony Brook goalie Matvei Kazakov blocked it right to Vercellono in front, where he put away a forehand in the left side of the net.
"What a great goal for Jackson," Handy said. "He comes in there and works hard every day in practice and you love to see guys like that be successful on the scoreboard."
Virostek returned to the cage and made a couple of clutch saves in the final 30 seconds, setting up five minutes of three-on-three sudden-death overtime, which featured back-and-forth action.
"It was super exciting, with a lot of energy from a great crowd," Handy said. "You really just have to go for it. Hunter was unbelievable in net (in overtime) and then was lights out in the shootout."
Virostek made his second breakaway save of the game, denying Slevin, Stony Brook's third-leading scorer. Vercellono nearly iced the win with a putback of his own blocked shot off a pass from freshman forward Jacob Kalandyk, but Kazakov made a quick-reaction glove save to preserve the tie.
Liberty outshot Stony Brook, 43-23, through the overtime period and Virostek only made 20 saves, but many of them were spectacular.
In the shootout, senior forward Josh Fricks had his opening attempt, a deft flick shot over Kazakov, glance off the crossbar and out before Foltz converted the Flames' second attempt, threading a needle with a low shot into the lower left corner, and Bartel had his shot rejected off the knub of Kazakov's stick. On the other end, Virostek made sliding kick saves of the Seawolves' final two chances by defenseman Brendan Pepe, the Seawolves' second-leading scorer, and Peck.
"Tonight was a mental grind and an emotional game, having that goal called off and some of the penalties," Handy said. "Then they score that shorthanded goal early in the second period and our guys just had to battle through that stuff. It's a good for building our mental toughness as we try to find ways to improve our team each and every time out there."
Next Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., the Flames welcome Ohio University back to the LIC after winning eight of nine meetings with the Bobcats last season, the last by a 10-2 count in the ACHA DI National Championship quarterfinals.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
