Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
LU nets three goals in second, third periods, sweeps Adrian
3/13/2021 12:00:00 AM | Women's D1 Hockey
On senior night at the LaHaye Ice Center, in Saturday's 6-1 regular-season-ending victory over Adrian College, Liberty University top-ranked ACHA Division I women's hockey underclassmen shined the brightest.
Freshman forward Brityn Fussy netted two goals for the second night in a row, sophomore forward Yannick Truter also tallied twice, and the Lady Flames (12-1, 8-1 ACHA) got a near flawless performance in net by freshman Kylie Mebs in winning their eighth game in a row and beating the Bulldogs (2-6) for the fourth time in eight days.
"We have a really great underclass this year," said Liberty forward and head captain Shannon Fehr, one of five seniors along with forwards Danica Polson and Shelby Bradford and defensemen Sydney Pierce and Kristi Serafin. "The freshman class was amazing and has been a great addition. They just mesh well with our team, with great personalities. We have a strong upperclass, as well, and we love to see everyone working together."
Following a scoreless first period, Fussy lifted the Lady Flames to a 1-0 edge with 16:20 left in the second period, finishing in the left crease the putback of freshman defenseman Priscilla Ziefle's shot from the top of the right circle.
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| Senior forward Shelby Bradford starts a breakout. |
"We were really happy to honor the seniors with our performance tonight," Ziefle said. "Our forwards know how to crash the net, so that was really great that we were able to capitalize. Our rookies are really talented. Truter and Fussy are so fast and so skilled and they just really know how to find the back of the net."
Ziefle doubled Liberty's lead at the 8:17 mark by skipping a shot through the slot from the left point past Adrian goalie Reid Bahr, who lost sight of the puck in traffic.
Then, with 5:14 to go in the second, Lady Flames senior forward Alex Smibert blocked a Bulldogs shot to graduate forward Val Manchak along the boards near mid-ice where she gathered the loose puck and skated up the left wing before cutting back into the crease and threading a shot through the five hole for a 3-0 advantage.
Liberty added three more goals in the opening 10 minutes of the third period to seize complete control. With the Lady Flames on a power play, Fussy slammed home a putback left out in front after senior forward Danica Polson's shot from the right circle for her fourth goal of the series with 16:13 remaining. Seconds after a near finish by Bradford, who skated out of a scrum in the left corner, Truter won a faceoff and put away the rebound of sophomore defenseman Julia McDonald's shot from the top of the left circle with help from junior forward Alexis Lauber, pushing the Lady Flames' lead to 5-0 at the 14:41 mark.
Truter capped the scoring for Liberty by taking the puck from Manchak in the slot and lifting a slapshot off the shoulder of Bulldogs replacement goalie Halle Faulkner with 11:46 to go.
Adrian forward Kat Robinson trimmed Liberty's lead to 6-1 with 9:34 to play, stealing the puck along the right boards and skating in on Mebs before ending her shutout bid by sneaking a shot past her extended right pad just inside the left post.
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| Senior defenseman Sydney Pierce battles an Adrian player for possession of the puck along the boards. |
The Lady Flames have close to two weeks to prepare to defend their Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) tournament title, March 26-28 on Lindenwood's home ice outside of St. Louis, before traveling to Minot, N.D., to try to become the only team other than the second-ranked Lady Lions to win three ACHA DI National Championships in a row from April 15-20.
"Our last two road trips really bonded the team in ways we didn't have before," Ziefle said.
"This (second sweep of Adrian) gives us the encouragement and confidence we need going into playoffs and nationals," Fehr added. "We know we can do it. We just need to go out there and perform."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Videos by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
