Liberty University Club Sports
Minot State University
No. 3 Flames’ upset bid thwarted by No. 2 Beavers in ‘Star Wars’ series opener
2/4/2022 11:19:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
In the sequel of a series sweep in North Dakota in mid-October, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team was again foiled by the Empire that is Minot State, succumbing by a 5-3 final in Friday's first of two "Star Wars Nights" at the LaHaye Ice Center.
As they did in the ACHA DI National Championship semifinals last April, the No. 2-ranked Beavers (25-2), winners of national titles in 2013 and 2019, erased an early 1-0 deficit to the No. 3 Flames (17-7) and captured a 3-1 lead by the end of the second period.
"The second period, we let the game get away from us," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We took three penalties and they scored two goals. We were spending a lot of time on the wrong side."
Minot outshot the Flames, 38-27, for the game.
"We've got to get more pucks on net," Handy said. "Second period, we only had five shots on goal."
Liberty got out to a solid start as junior goalie Hunter Virostek made a spectacular glove save of a Minot State shot on its first power-play opportunity and later tipped and gloved a shot through the slot by Connor Navrot.
Just 30 seconds later, the Flames capitalized on a counterattack when sophomore Jason Foltz took a pass from Josh Fricks and sent the puck from the point through to senior forward Matt Bartel in the right circle. He he zeroed in on his target and threaded a shot into the top-right corner, beating freshman goalie Jake Anthony for a 1-0 Liberty lead with 11:30 left in the first period.
However, with 2:32 left the Beavers netted the equalizer on a well-executed two-on-one counterattack with Reece Henry finishing a give-and-go pass from Jared Hamm deep in the right crease.
The Flames ended the first period and started the second on a power play but couldn't take advantage. They killed off a penalty midway through the second but allowed the Beavers to seize a 2-1 lead shortly after that when Justin Metcalf stole the puck inside Liberty's blue line and sent a picture-perfect cross-crease assist to fellow Manitoba forward Jordan Robertson for a point-blank finish inside the right post with 5:33 to go.
The Beavers went back to work when Josh Pederson intercepted the puck and left it for captain Davis Sheldon on the right wing, where he assisted Jay Buchholz for a shot through the slot that glanced off Virostek's pad into the net, stretching the Minot lead to 3-1 with 3:10 left in the second.
But the Flames struck back quickly for two goals in the first two minutes of the third, the first just 27 seconds after the second intermission by senior forward Josh Fricks. He received a long outlet pass from senior defenseman Colin Baird near the Beavers' blue line, maneuvered the puck around a Minot defenseman, and finished the fast break with a wrist shot from deep in the right circle.
Then, with Liberty on the power play after freshman forward Jackson Vercellono was checked hard into the corner boards, Foltz fed a pass into the slot to freshman forward Jacob Kalandyk, who gathered the rebound of his own shot and fired it past Anthony, knotting the score at 3-3 at the 18:43 mark.
"It was worth it to take it and get a power play and score, so I'll do that any game," Vercellono said. "My linemate, Kalandyk, came back to the bench and said that one was for me because he knew I took a hard hit."
The score remained tied for next nine minutes before the Beavers converted the go-ahead goal seconds after Liberty successfully killed another penalty. Reid Arnold took advantage of a Flames changeover to slip the puck past Virostek from right on the doorstep after receiving fellow forward Landyn Cochrane's pass from behind the net for a 4-3 Minot lead with 9:47 to play.
"We've got to be better in those situations," Handy said.
"It's an unfortunate play," Vercellono added. "A guy comes right down the middle and no one picks him up, so we've just got to be better watching that third man. We can't change on the backcheck and not pick up the third man high. We know what we did wrong and we're going to fix it and do everything right (in Saturday's rematch)."
Liberty let two power-play opportunities go by the wayside in the final period before generating some decent chances in five-on-five action down the stretch. The Flames pulled Virostek for the final minute and a half to put them a man up before Minot scored an empty-netter by defenseman Eric Soar from 150 feet away to ice the setback with 18.9 seconds to go.
"I definitely liked our compete, coming back … and our PK again tonight was fantastic," Handy said. "We're interested in stringing together 60 minutes of consistent play and we didn't do that tonight. We just need consistency in all three periods."
The puck will drop at 7 p.m. back in the LIC on Saturday, the second "Star Wars Night."
"It's going to take a full 60-minute effort out of our team, keeping our head on our shoulders without taking penalties that are unnecessary, and facing whatever adversity head-on and not buckling under it," Vercellono said. "We're going to come together and we're going to take it tomorrow."
He said every game from here on out will be critical as the Flames prepare for the March 10-15 ACHA DI National Championships at Centene Community Ice Arena, practice facility for the NHL's St. Louis Blues.
"We've got our mindset set toward playoff hockey, so we're going to try to do everything simple, everything the right way, because that's how it's got to be when we get to St. Louis," Vercellono said. "We've got to make sure to stay level-headed when the crowd is really emotional, and the game's really emotional. We just want to make sure we keep control of our emotions and not let them get the best of us."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
