Liberty University Club Sports
Minot State University
No. 3 Flames outdueled in OT by No. 2 Minot State in epic ‘Star Wars’ battle
2/5/2022 11:42:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Donning C-3PO jerseys for this weekend's "Star Wars" series against Minot State, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team took a while to get its offensive circuitry working at times, but when the No. 3-ranked Flames were firing on all cylinders, the results were golden.
Liberty (17-7-1) rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the No. 2 Beavers (26-2) for the second night in a row, but after short-circuiting down the stretch in Friday night's 5-3 series-opening setback, the Flames were shot down in overtime in Saturday night's rematch, suffering a 3-2 loss at the LaHaye Ice Center.
"It was a good game and I felt like we kind of knew they were going to be these types of games," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "They were going to be tight, low-scoring, and we had to find a way. Our guys stuck with it, battled through it. We've just got to find ways to generate more shots on goal and a little more offense. We've been kind of quiet the last three games."
Both teams kept their opponents in check on the power play, with their penalty kill units going a perfect 5-for-5 for the contest.
Liberty's PK successfully dammed up the Beavers' first power play at the 16:02 mark of the first period. However, Minot State scored at even strength two minutes later when forward Jordan Robertson threaded a backhanded assist across the crease as he crashed into the left corner and Landyn Cochrane put it away past the glove of Flames junior goalie Hunter Virostek for a 1-0 lead with 14:00 remaining.
Flames freshman defenseman Matt Berezowski returned to the ice for the first time in 2022 and he nearly set up sophomore forward Truett Olson for the equalizer with a steal and crossing pass. Minot State was called for crosschecking on the play, giving the Flames their third power play of the period. But an interference penalty against senior forward Josh Fricks cut that in half and put the Beavers back on the man advantage with 2:10 to go before the first intermission.
"Our penalty kill was amazing again tonight (but) we need to find the net on the power play," Handy said. "We didn't find it tonight."
Moments after Minot State killed off a penalty midway through the second period, Robertson doubled its lead by sticking in the putback of Cochrane's shot through traffic from the top of the left circle, pouncing on the loose puck when Virostek was unable to glove it cleanly at the 8:54 mark.
The Flames finally broke through the Beavers' defensive dam with 2:05 left in the second period, when senior defenseman Colin Baird received a pass out of the right corner from junior forward Brett Gammer and lined a shot from the point that sophomore forward DJ Schwenke deflected inside the lower right post. Liberty stymied Minot State on another power play opportunity and went into the third period trailing, 2-1.
Early in the third, the Flames nearly snuck in the tying goal on a shot from the high slot deflected by Fricks that just glanced off the skate of Minot State goalie Riley Wallace wide of the left post.
Liberty manufactured the equalizer with 5:46 remaining in regulation when freshman defenseman Luke Heimann skated the puck around the right circle toward the cage before dishing it to sophomore forward Kam Ottenbreit right in front, where he slammed it past Wallace from point-blank range.
Sophomore forward Jason Foltz drew an untimely penalty with 1:46 to go, putting Liberty's penalty kill unit to the test once more, which it passed with flying colors, sending the contest into overtime, tied at 2-2.
Minot, which outshot the Flames 35-23 for the game, brought out its rapid-fire blasters in the extra five-minute period. Forward David Sheldon forced Virostek to make a clutch save at the lower left post in the closing second of the power play before he blocked another rocket of a shot off the stick of defenseman Paul O'Connor 10 seconds later.
Back at even strength, in 3-on-3 hockey for the final 4:46, the C-3PO machine was silenced and the Beavers broke through for the game-winner when forward Drew Carter fired a shot from the center of the right circle past Foltz and through Virostek just inside the upper left corner of the cage with 1:20 to play. Video replays confirmed that the puck struck the net after it appeared it might have instead hit the post.
"We started behind the eight ball, killing the penalty," Handy said. "When you go to overtime, anything can happen. They were a couple tight games and we didn't get it tonight, (but) I was proud of our guys. I really like our team and we're going to be in a good spot at the end of the year."
Next weekend, the Flames will travel to Ohio to face a Bobcats squad that salvaged a split in its Nov. 12-13 series at the LIC, ending Liberty's streak of five come-from-behind wins in a six-game stretch. The Beavers are the only team to sweep the Flames this season, accomplishing that feat twice to account for half of their setbacks.
"We'll have a good video session Monday and get going for next week again," Handy said. "We're going on the road and sometimes that's a positive thing. The guys get together and it can be a great opportunity to bond even further as a team."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
