Liberty University Club Sports
Ohio University
Shorthanded Flames complete series sweep with shootout win over Bobcats
2/12/2022 11:32:54 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Playing without sophomore forward and leading scorer Jason Foltz and senior forward Devin Melice who were sidelined by sickness, Liberty University’s No. 5-ranked ACHA Division I men’s hockey team found a way to pull out a 4-3 shootout victory in front of 1,000 Bobcats fans at No. 15 Ohio University’s Bird Arena on Saturday night in Athens, Ohio.
“It’s a tough place to play and we had to shuffle the lines up again today, but that stuff happens,” Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. “At the end of the day, at this time of the year, you want to make sure you’re winning games and do your part, and we were able to come away with another win, a great momentum win for us.”
After a scoreless first period, freshman forward Jacob Kalandyk got the Flames on the scoreboard first, less than three minutes into the second, off assists from freshmen defensemen Aleksandre Charin and Luke Heimann. The Bobcats (14-12-2) tied it up on a power-play goal by forward Nick Carretta — his 12th of the year, assisted by forwards JT Schimizzi and Drew Magyar just over a minute later.
Liberty (19-7-1) reclaimed the lead at 2-1 with 8:04 remaining in the period when sophomore forward DJ Schwenke finished feeds from freshman defenseman Matt Berezowski and junior forward Brett Gammer.
With the Flames on a 5-on-3 power play, sophomore forward Kris Bladen put away assists from junior defenseman Cam Kuhl and senior forward Josh Fricks, extending the Flames’ lead to 3-1 going into the third.
Ohio tied the contest with goals by forwards Andrew Wells and Carretta in the opening seven minutes of the third period before the score remained knotted at 3-3 for the final 13 minutes of regulation and a scoreless five-minute overtime period, when both teams traded penalties.
“We had complete control of the game and then we let them back in the game,” Handy said. “We had some breakdowns in the third period, (but) I was happy for our guys, who were battling and working hard. I’m proud of the fact that even after they allowed Ohio to come back, they still won the shootout.”
Liberty junior goalie Hunter Virostek saved the Bobcats’ final five shootout attempts after allowing Caretta to score on their second try. Meanwhile, Kalandyk and Gammer scored on the Flames’ second and seventh attempts, sealing the 4-3 triumph by winning the shootout, 2-1.
“Hunter stood tall in the shootout,” Handy said. “He made some big saves, that’s for sure.”
Not counting the shootout, both teams took 36 shots on goal and Virostek made 33 saves to preserve the victory, which gives Liberty a 17-16 lead in the all-time series.
The Flames will return to the LaHaye Ice Center for their final home series of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 10 p.m. against No. 11 Jamestown (N.D.) University, a team it swept with back-to-back come-from-behind wins in North Dakota on Oct. 18 and 19.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
