Liberty University Club Sports
Adrian College
No. 1 Lady Flames sweep No. 3 Bulldogs to cap regular season at 20-0, stretch winning streak to 35
2/19/2022 11:04:53 PM | Women's D1 Hockey
Liberty University’s top-ranked, three-time-defending ACHA Division I women’s hockey team gave its senior class a farewell to remember this weekend, completing a regular-season-ending sweep Saturday at the LaHaye Ice Center with a 7-1 rout of No. 3 Adrian College.
The win extended Liberty’s program-record winning streak to 35 games, including a 15-game home stretch last season capped by the team’s fourth national title in Minot, N.D.
“What a fun weekend to celebrate our three seniors and against a good team,” Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. “The girls were ready to go. We showed our firepower both nights, and I think you saw a little bit of just hunger from us being off for a while. We are very encouraged as a staff heading to playoffs to see our girls playing at this high a level.”
“We’re trending in the right direction, and excited to see what we still have left in the tank,” Liberty graduate forward Vanessa DeMerchant added. “We are super thankful that we get to continue to play and play for that national championship.”
The Lady Flames extinguished all six of Adrian’s power-play opportunities in the contest, including three in the first period.
“There’s a lot to celebrate,” said Lowes, who improved to 132-8-3 in five seasons at the helm after coaching Liberty’s ACHA DII men’s team for the previous 10. “Obviously, we had pretty strong performances and some good execution both days. Special teams play was big this weekend. Our penalty kill has had a pretty incredible year. We’ve only given up one or two goals on the PK all year. And this was our first perfect season, too, the first time we’ve been able to run the gamut.”
Liberty has a handful of players who won’t be back next season, but a few had already been honored on previous seasons’ Senior Days. Saturday’s pre-game ceremonies focused on senior defenseman Aislyn Stretch, graduate defenseman Sally Hoerr, and senior forward Alexis (Paulmert) Lauber, who played in the fall semester before using up her eligibility.
“As a whole, this weekend was a really good steppingstone to where we want to head postseason,” DeMerchant said. “Overall, on the year, it’s been one of the most successful seasons we’ve had and that’s a tribute to the culture that we’ve created in the locker room, so I’m super proud of our girls and the way they competed today.”
After DeMerchant nearly replicated her shorthanded breakaway goal from Friday afternoon’s series opener midway through the first period, the Lady Flames broke through for the game’s first goal at the 8:48 mark when sophomore forward Brityn Fussy (2 goals, 3 assists) received a faceoff feed from freshman forward Zosia Adamek and fired a shot from the high slot past the glove of Adrian goalie Jordan Hunt for a 1-0 lead.
On Adrian’s third power-play opportunity of the first period, DeMerchant had another breakaway opportunity smothered by Hunt after a poorly timed line change by the Bulldogs, before the Lady Flames’ PK finished off the kill.
Then, with 53 seconds to go, DeMerchant finally cashed in on a beautiful wraparound goal after skating around the left corner and finishing inside the right post, behind Hunt, to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
“I would have loved to have been able to finish on one, if not both, of those (breakaways), but was happy to get that last one,” DeMerchant said. “As a whole, it was really nice to see a widespread of goals being finished today and girls just finding that last touch.”
The Bulldogs cut the deficit in half at the 17:16 mark of the second period when graduate forward Cece Werner gathered a rebound in the right circle and fired a shot on net that was deflected by freshman forward Tess McKerrow through the five-hole of Liberty sophomore goalie Amanda Storey.
However, as they did on Friday, the Lady Flames responded quickly — just 29 seconds later — with Fussy clearing the puck out of their defensive zone by skating up the center of the ice and through the right crease before feeding a pass into sophomore forward Carly Glover for a one-time finish and a 3-1 lead.
Less than 10 seconds after Adrian killed off a Liberty power play, the Lady Flames capitalized on an extended man advantage on a Bulldogs line change when Fussy skated in on the right wing and sent a cross-crease assist to younger sister Brielle Fussy (2 goals) for a point-blank putaway with 2:43 left in the second.
Liberty pounced on another untimely Adrian line change just 15 seconds after the ensuing faceoff when Brielle Fussy, who netted a hat trick in Friday’s first game, skated the puck through the right circle and sneaked a wrist shot past Hunt inside the left post.
That stretched the Lady Flames’ advantage to 5-1 heading into the second intermission before they capped the scoring with two goals in a span of a minute in the third period.
The first came on a power play with 7:52 remaining when graduate forward Shelby Bradford received a pass along the boards from DeMerchant and sent the puck into junior forward Yannick Truter, who redirected it past Hunt from out in front. Then, Brityn Fussy sparked an odd-man rush after receiving an outlet pass in the high slot, skating into the right circle and dropping a backhanded pass back to Glover for a top-shelf finish at the 7:02 mark.
DeMerchant said the Lady Flames must keep their eyes on the prize as they prepare to try to three-peat as champions at the Feb. 25-27 Women’s Midwest College Hockey (WMCH) Tournament before contending for an ACHA DI record fourth consecutive national championship from March 16-20, with both tournaments being played in St. Louis.
“The biggest thing is not letting it get to our heads, staying focused and keeping our foot on the gas and not letting up at all,” she said. “There’s a lot of teams that could come out and give us a good battle and we need to be prepared for that, especially when you get into the postseason, because that’s where everyone’s bringing their best hockey.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Videos by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
