Lady Flames sophomore defenseman Emerson Oakes starts a breakout in a game against Minot State played last season at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Kendall Tidwell)
Lady Flames break open championship final rematch with three late goals at Minot
10/13/2023 9:52:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey
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Liberty overcame a game-tying shorthanded goal by the Beavers with one of its own before adding two more scores, including an empty-netter, in a 5-2 victory.
In a rematch of last season's championship game, Liberty University's five-time defending ACHA Division I national champion women's hockey team emerged with a dramatic 5-2 victory on Friday at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D.
Reminiscent of the March final near Boston, an action-packed third period was highlighted by game-tying and game-winning shorthanded scores by the Beavers and Lady Flames, respectively.
"It was kind of a back-and forth battle," Liberty Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "Our girls know theirs so well and they have some history with them, but this game had an early-season feel. All of our games with Minot tend to be very scrappy. We didn't look very polished, but that was also on them. They put a lot of pressure on us and forced some turnovers."
Defenseman Madison Glynn scored a hat trick against Minot State in the ACHA DI final.
With 7:59 remaining in the first period, the Lady Flames struck first on a fast break sprung by an outlet pass from sophomore defenseman Brookelyn Beauchamp to freshman forward Ellie Sarauer up the middle of the ice. She then worked a give-and-go pass sequence to junior forward Brielle Fussy whose return feed set her up for a forehand finish past Minot State goalie Haylie Biever as she skated down the slot.
Biever smothered a shorthanded scoring opportunity by Fussy moments later, before Liberty capitalized at even strength when senior forward Brityn Fussy stole the puck back along the right boards, skated across the blue line and behind the Minot cage, and lifted a wrist shot from the high slot past Biever inside the left post for a 2-0 advantage 3:17 before the first intermission.
Minot State trimmed the deficit to 2-1 with the only goal of the second period at the 10:19 mark when Gillian Gervin tipped in Anna German's shot from the top of the left circle past Liberty senior goalie Amanda Storey.
Then in the third, the Beavers capitalized shorthanded on a breakaway steal by forward Gracie Perry and putback of her own blocked shot in the right crease after skating through the slot, tying the game at 2 with 12:27 remaining in regulation.
"That shorthanded goal, those are more likely to happen early in the season, where you miss a rotation and there wasn't communication as to who's backing up who," Lowes said. "But I was proud of our response. We've got a lot of great leaders on our team and they calmed everything down."
With the Lady Flames on the penalty kill, they retaliated with the game-winning shorthanded score just over five minutes later. Brityn Fussy followed graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch's shot from the top of the right circle by gathering the loose puck in the left circle and sliding head-first as she sliced across the slot while shuffling her one-handed shot past Biever inside the right post for a 3-2 Liberty lead at the 7:11 mark.
"What a backbreaker," Lowes said. "They go on a power play after tying it up shorthanded and every coach thinks this is the time that they are going to score the go-ahead goal."
Less than two minutes later, with the Lady Flames on the power play, junior forward Haley Battles doubled their advantage to 4-2 on a backhanded putback of freshman defenseman Sophia Adamek's shot from the left circle that rebounded off the back boards right to Battles in an open right crease.
"We did some good things in the off and defensive zone," Lowes said. "It was on broken plays where they had the advantage, where we looked a little out of sorts. We turned the puck over at the blue line, even at our own, and those can be killers." Junior forward Zosia Adamek scored a long-range empty netter against Minot State.
Junior forward Zosia Adamek capped the scoring with an empty-net score on a shot from beyond the red line in the closing 10 seconds.
The Beavers (0-3) outshot the Lady Flames (4-0) by a 25-20 mark and Storey made 23 saves to improve to 3-0.
"It's a great road win on our first road trip of the year," Lowes said. "I am excited for this trip, for our team to get on the road with each other and continue to build the chemistry and camaraderie. That takes a while to develop."
The teams will meet back at Maysa Arena on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. EST, with the action streamed live on the NSIC Network.
"It's a great little town and I'm glad we came here before it got too cold and snowy," Lowes said, noting that the Lady Flames have approximately 50 family and friends in town for the series, many from western Canada. "It's a great rink, one of the better places to play in the ACHA, and Minot's a great host team. I'm excited for tomorrow."
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterLady Flames junior forward Brielle Fussy starts a breakaway against Minot State in their series at the LaHaye Ice Center last season.
