Senior forward Jacob Kalandyk is the Flames' leading scorer with five goals and six assists through seven games. (Photos by Chase Reed)
Fourth-ranked Flames eager to challenge No. 2 Bulldogs over Fall Break in Michigan
10/11/2023 6:32:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty will look to carry the momentum from an impressive sweep of Delaware into its second challenging road test against Adrian.
Dominating former ESCHL rival Delaware last weekend at the LaHaye Ice Center by 9-0 and 5-1 scores helped Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team erase the memory of back-to-back home-and-home series sweeps at the hands of top-ranked, defending ACHA DI national champion Minot (N.D.) State.
Now, as they gear up for this weekend's series at No. 2 Adrian (Mich.) College, the fourth-ranked Flames are focused on the task at hand, knowing what kind of effort it will take to upset the 2021 national champion Bulldogs.
"I think we're better prepared for this than we were for Minot," Liberty senior forward Kam Ottenbreit said. "We jumped into the season immediately by playing Minot, which was good for us. We got it out of the way and got prepared for it and I think going into Adrian, you're going to see a different team."
He acknowledged the road trip will be almost as long as the one to North Dakota two weekends ago, when the team flew from Raleigh, N.C., to Minnesota and on to Minot. Traveling over Fall Break, the Flames face a 10-12-hour bus trip to Adrian, Mich., on Thursday before battling the Bulldogs on Friday night and again on Saturday afternoon.
"We are well rested," Ottenbreit said. "The coaches gave us a day off on Monday to get our bodies right and we're in a really good spot right now."
"It's Fall Break so that will be good," senior forward Jason Foltz added. "No one's got any homework or anything to worry about. All focus should be on the game. It will be a quick turnaround (for Saturday's 1 p.m. rematch)."
Ottenbreit believes Liberty is up for the challenge and eager to showcase its potential to be a national contender this weekend.
"This will be a good show of what we can do on the road," he said. "When we're at home, we have energy from the fans, and when we're on the road, we've kind of got to generate our own energy, so it's a different atmosphere that we need to get used to because that's what nationals is going to be like."
Foltz said the Flames developed a game plan for Adrian and fine-tuned areas where they could improve this week in practice.
"(On Tuesday), we were putting an emphasis on some of the things that (the Bulldogs) do and our options to kind of counter what they're doing and everyone's on the same page with that and looked pretty good today," he said. "Everyone's talking out there and everyone looks like they're figuring out the systems well, even the new guys, and everyone's moving their feet, especially focusing on the backcheck and the guys coming back hard (on defense)."
Preview for Games 7-8: No. 4 Liberty (3-3-1) at No. 2 Adrian (6-0), Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Mich. Both games will be streamed live by Adrian College TV.
All-Time Series: The Bulldogs lead 13-4, with the Flames winning for the first time in eight tries at Arrington Ice Arena in a shootout last Oct 14. In the teams' first meeting, Adrian defeated Liberty at the 2012 ACHA DI National Championships.
Liberty Scouting Report:Â The Flames' attack is kindled by senior forward Jacob Kalandyk (5 goals, 6 assists) as well as freshman forward Ryan Finch (4G, 5A), junior defenseman Kevin Bite (3G, 5A), Foltz (4G, 2A), and sophomore defenseman Laz Kaebel (2G, 4A).
In goal, senior Hunter Virostek has started every game and has evened his record at 3-3-1 with a 3.04 goals-against average and 91.3 save percentage with one shutout.
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Defenseman Grant Morton skates against Adrian in February at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Liberty returned sophomore defensemen Grant Morton and Colten Kovich in the Delaware series after Morton missed the first five games of the season and Kovich sat out the first game against the Blue Hens. Kaebel should also be back in action after being scratched for the second game against Delaware.
"(Morton is) a good stay-at-home and puck-moving defenseman, so it's nice to have him back," Ottenbreit said, noting that Kovich complements Bite. "It's nice because Kovich is a big stay-at-home defenseman, a big body and Kevin is shifty and moves the puck around pretty well so it's a good pairing, good balance."Â
Offensively, the Flames are starting to fire on all cylinders and are eager to send their four lines against the Bulldogs' defense.
"After last weekend, putting up 14 goals, we're pretty happy with the lines we have right now," said Ottenbreit, who joined forces with Finch and Foltz. "We just want to keep them together and build up more chemistry. Our line moves the puck very well with a lot of speed and we're really started to click."
"Our line is very fast, which is what we use to our advantage out there," Foltz added. "It will be good to keep that pace going against a faster team like Adrian. (Finch) is a really good piece of our line and all three of us work well together."
Foltz, who works on the top power play with Kalandyk, Finch, Bite, and senior forward DJ Schwenke, and Ottenbreit, who plays a key role on the penalty kill alongside fellow senior forwards Matt Bartel, Brett Gammer, Kalandyk, Schwenke, Truett Olson, and sophomore forward Sam Feamster, will look to capitalize on special teams against the Bulldogs.
"The PK's had to make a little bit of an adjustment," Ottenbreit said after it allowed four goals in eight chances in an 8-1 second-game setback at Minot State. "We haven't been clicking exactly where we want to click, but the coaches have really focused on it and I've got a good feeling about this coming weekend."
Adrian Scouting Report: The Bulldogs have outscored opponents by a 47-3 margin this season, posting lopsided sweeps of Cincinnati (14-0, 10-1), Purdue (5-0, 5-0), and Pittsburgh (5-0, 8-2). Their bullish attack is steered by forwards Sam Spaedt (3G, 7A), Caleb Minns (4G, 5A), Sebastian Smith (4G, 4A), Matthew Dicesare (5G, 1A), Matteo Digiulio (4G, 2A), and Nash Hatcher (4G, 2A), with all but Minns and Hatcher netting game-winning goals.
Noah Decottignies has recorded five of the Bulldogs' six wins in net, allowing just two goals (0.40 GAA) and making 83 saves (97.6 SP) while posting four shutouts.Â
Coaches:Â Handy is in his 24th season at the helm of the Flames, having guided them to seven consecutive ACHA DI National Championships appearances and posted a career record of 519-214-33. Adrian's bench is patrolled by Gary Astalos, who is 248-21-3 in his eighth season as head coach.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
