Liberty University Club Sports
Minot State University
Flames outshot by Beavers, 40-25, doubled up on scoreboard, 4-2, for series' 10th straight setback
10/7/2022 11:44:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Two-time national champion Minot State continues to be a thorn in the side of Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team, capitalizing on two power-play goals that proved to be the difference in Friday night's 4-2 victory at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D. For the fourth-ranked Beavers (5-0), it was their 10th win in a row against the fifth-ranked Flames (4-1).
"We didn't have the effort that our guys, our team, or our coaches are going to be happy with," said Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy, who eclipsed the 500-win mark of his career two weeks ago and took his 200th loss on Friday night. "We've got to play better (on Saturday) and we will. That's not the type of game we want to walk away from and say we played well. There's another level inside that locker room and we're going to find it. All of the players, coaches, and staff take responsibility and we all have to be better as a group."
Liberty was held without a shot for the first half of the first period before cashing in on one of their first opportunities at the 8:18 mark when junior forward Jacob Kalandyk sent a pass across the slot to Jackson Vercellono and fellow sophomore forward Truett Olson, skating into in the right crease, one-timed a putback into an open net for a 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Flames senior goalie Hunter Virostek made a clutch save of a point-blank shot by Brayden Pawluk off a feed from Troy Hamilton deep in the crease. Jake Anthony returned the favor for the Beavers with Liberty on a power play, making a great glove save of freshman defenseman Colten Kovich's high shot from the high slot.
"We jumped out to a lead, so that was a positive," Handy said. "The first period, we played fairly well. In the second period, we gave up two power play goals, and that's a big story in the second period. Their power play goes 2-for-5 and ours goes 0-for-3 for the game. We've got to play 60 minutes of hockey. We played not bad for 40 (in the first and third periods), but you can't give up two power play goals in the second period."
Just over two minutes into the second period, Minot graduate forward Landyn Cochrane capitalized on an unassisted equalizer, picking up a loose puck near his own blue line and skating around Flames junior forward Jason Foltz into the high slot before ripping a wrist shot into the top left corner past Virostek.
Less than two minutes later, Liberty sophomore forward Kam Ottenbreit narrowly missed a shorthanded opportunity with a sharp-angled shot from the right side. On its next trip down the ice, with the power play still in effect, Minot seized the lead it would not relinquish on Cochrane's second score. Stationed near the left post, he tucked in the rebound of defenseman Eric Soar's shot from the right circle that bounced over the pad of Virostek.
Just 24 seconds into a third power-play opportunity, the Beavers captured a 3-1 lead with textbook execution when Carter Barley sent a pass from the point down to Davis Sheldon on the left backboards, where he set up Reid Arnold cutting through the left crease for a one-timed finish at the 9:53 mark.
Early in the third period, Sheldon struck the crossbar with as shot from the left circle before Sheldin Howard was rejected by Virostek on a wraparound attempt. Moments later, the Beavers padded their lead by converting a fast-break counterattack sparked by Howard, who skated past a Liberty defenseman into the left circle before fellow freshman forward Joey Moffatt slammed home the rebound of his shot as he skated into the right crease for a 4-1 advantage.
The Flames cut the deficit to 4-2 with 8:39 remaining in regulation when freshman defenseman Laz Kaebel swiped the puck near the red line and sent it up to Vercellono, who skated toward the right endline before sending a pass across the crease to Foltz for a finish with authority. But Liberty went back to the penalty box with just under 3:00 to go and was unable to generate much pressure in the final minute after the penalty kill, even after pulling Virostek for the final 20 seconds for the man advantage.
Virostek made 36 saves to 23 for Anthony as Minot outshot Liberty, 40-25
"That's a big gap there," Handy said. "We've got to get more pucks on net. We have to have all of the lines going and be better on special teams. Up front, we've got to get contributions from more guys offensively."
The two independent teams will battle in the rematch at Maysa Arena on Saturday, with the puck set to drop again at 8:15 p.m. EST. A live stream of the action on the ice is available on the NSIC Network.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
