Liberty University Club Sports
North Carolina State University
DII men’s hockey sweeps home-and-home series against Southeast Region rival Icepack
11/14/2022 6:21:30 PM | Men's D2 Hockey
In the Southeast Region rivals first meetings in two seasons, Liberty University’s ACHA Division II men’s hockey team swept North Carolina State for the second time in the past three series with the Icepack, winning Friday afternoon’s opener at the LaHaye Ice Center (LIC), 5-4, and Saturday night’s rematch at the Wake Competition Center in Morrisville, N.C., 2-1 in overtime.
“It was awesome,” Flames Head Coach Ben Hughes said after his team improved to 14-2 with its sixth straight win but remained behind top-ranked Florida Gulf Coast University in the Southeast Region rankings. “Saturday’s game was back and forth. Both teams had good looks and equal amounts of puck possession. The biggest thing for us is we got better again this weekend.”
Freshman forward Thomas Kayner scored both of Liberty’s goals at NC State, the first off assists from junior forward Roman Lamoureux and sophomore forward Eric Abbate at the 13:43 mark of the first period. The Icepack tied the contest with 7:52 left in the period when Zack Robinson fired the only shot past sophomore goalie Lane Skon (18 saves).
After scoreless second and third periods, Kayner netted the game-winner with 1:05 remaining in the five-minute first overtime, finishing a feed from freshman defenseman Logan Johnson with a shot through traffic from the high slot.
“He’s got a great shot and he’s had a huge impact as a freshman,” Hughes said. “He was walking across the middle of the ice in the offensive zone, and we had great net-front presence and a screen in front and the goalie couldn’t see his shot.”
In Friday’s opener, the Flames jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jared Matley at the 9:08 mark— assisted by fellow sophomore forward David Hauke and graduate defenseman Alex Norwinski— and the first of two goals by junior forward Roman Lamoureux, unassisted with 3:44 left.
The Icepack tied the contest with the lone goal in the second period, by Philip Bailey, and first in the third by Robinson before the teams battled back and forth the rest of the way. Freshman center Josh Martin put the Flames back on top by putting away assists from junior forward Trevor Granzow and freshman defenseman Logan Starkey before Alex Robinson tied it at 3-3 with the first of his two goals, with the second capping the scoring at the 5:02 mark. In between, Liberty reclaimed the lead for good on back-to-back scores by Lamoureux and Granzow, 3:20 apart.
“I would have liked to have seen us widen the gap, but we got into a little penalty trouble and had six PKs to their two,” Hughes said.
Liberty outshot NC State, 34-23, and senior goalie Stephen Sanders made 19 saves to notch the win.
The Flames will be off the next two weekends before returning to the LIC to host Northeastern (Mass.) University on Dec. 2-3.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
