Jackson Vercellono celebrates his first goal of the season, and the Flames' first on the night, tying Maryville 1-1 en route to a 3-2 shootout victory, Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center (Photos by Jacob Summersgill and Chase Gyles)
Flames rally from 1-0 deficit late to force OT before sinking Saints in a shootout
10/20/2023 11:45:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Jackson Vercellono netted the equalizer and assisted Truett Olson's go-ahead goal before Jacob Kalandyk converted the only shootout score.
Liberty University's fourth-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team got a stellar performance between the pipes from sophomore DII call-up Nicholas Bernstein and a clutch shootout goal from junior forward and leading scorer Jacob Kalandyk in Friday night's 3-2 triumph over No. 9 Maryville (Mo.) University at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Bernstein, who transferred in from NCAA Division III Chatham (Pa.) University over the summer, made 25 saves and stopped all three of the Saints' tries in the shootout to record his first win in place of graduate goalie Hunter Virostek, who suffered an upper-body injury in the closing minutes of Saturday's 4-3 loss at Adrian (Mich.) College. Nicholas Bernstein made 25 saves and three in the shootout. (Photos by Chase Gyles)
"That was really special for (Bernstein) to come in in his first full game and make some huge saves throughout the whole game to keep us in there and then going into the shootout, too, three saves in a row is huge," Kalandyk said. "Berny stood on his head and kept us in there. That's really special for him."
Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy was glad to have Bernstein available with Virostek's usual backup, freshman Jackson Glassford, sidelined by the team's concussion protocol after a preseason collision in practice.
"I couldn't be more thrilled for Nick Bernstein," Handy said. "He played great. He made some big saves for us. He managed the game really well and had a solid game for us. I'm super proud of him, a guy who didn't expect to be up here playing, he came in and was shutting them down. He made some key saves for us at key times."
The Saints ended the scoreless tie a second before the first period elapsed after TJ Prexler unleashed a shot from the high slot that skidded under the stick of Matt Bartel and through the legs of fellow senior forward DJ Schwenke. Maryville forward Hunter Floris pounced on the loose puck deep in the right crease and tucked it around the extended pad of Bernstein inside the right post for a 1-0 edge going into the first intermission.
Bernstein stood tall in the cage to keep it a one-goal game late in the second period, rejecting Dylan Dekoe's point-blank shot in the right crease before gloving the Saints' follow-up shot from the point. Flames defenseman Marty Mocs controls the puck. (Photo by Jacob Summersgill)
Early in the third period, defensemen Marty (Marnauzs) Mocs and Grant Morton pressured Maryville goalie Edward Coffey with Mocs striking the near post with a point-blank shot from the left endline.
The Flames finally netted the equalizer with 9:39 remaining in regulation when Kalandyk took a pass from Truett Olson and skated down the center of the ice before weaving into the left crease.
He had his shot blocked by Coffey but graduate forward Jackson Vercellono was in the right place at the right time to clean up the putback, chipping his forehand into the top-right corner of the cage for his first goal of the season.
"That was definitely a full-line goal from all the way back to our defense, getting the puck up on a good breakout and all of us skating up the ice," Kalandyk said.
He said Vercellono both sparked and finished that scoring threat.
"On the breakout, Jackson made a great play," Kalandyk said. "He got his head up and found me kind of late there and then gave me some speed to get into the zone and then he got on his horse. I just drove it to the net and he crashed the net and got a big goal for us. He was waiting for that one and I think it couldn't have come at a better time than that. I'm really happy for him."
"He's been playing solid for us and that was a fantastic goal, where he's going to the net and had a nice shot putting it in," Handy added. Maryville nets the first goal with 1 second left in the first period. (Photo by Chase Gyles)
Just three and a half minutes later, the Flames got the go-ahead goal on a power play when Bartel fired a shot from the left circle that bounced off Coffey and Vercellono tipped it backdoor to Olson in the right crease for a backhanded putback into an open net for a 2-1 advantage with 6:04 to play.
"Toward the end, we started to change our game a little bit, started getting pucks to the net and crashing the net and it worked out for us," Kalandyk said.
"Truett works hard every night and he found a way," Handy said.
But the Saints capitalized quickly on the fifth and final power play of the third period when Prexler launched a low shot from the high slot that beat Bernstein inside the left post, re-tying the contest at 2 at the 3:25 mark.
Bernstein made kick saves of back-to-back shots by the Saints in the closing seconds of regulation, preserving the tie and sending the contest into five minutes of 3-on-3 play.
Freshman forward Ryan Finch struck the right post with his opening shot in the shootout before Flores had his first try for Maryville kick saved by Bernstein. Kalandyk lifted the Flames to a one-goal advantage by ripping a wrist shot past Coffey after a slow-drawn approach and Bernstein snuffed the Saints' last two attempts to earn the shootout victory. Jacob Kalandyk skates by Maryville goalie Edward Coffey after scoring in the shootout.
Handy said the Flames need to carry the momentum from the shootout win into Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch back at the LIC.
"I didn't think we had our A game tonight, but we found a way and good teams find a way," he said. "They're going to play a whole lot better and we need to play a whole lot better. Quite honestly, we need to get back to what made us successful in the third period in the first and second periods (on Saturday)."
"We just need to play a full 60 minutes," said Kalandyk, who now has scored eight goals and distributed seven assists, tied with Vercellono for tops on the team. "We've got to start getting more pucks on the net (and) as long as we come together and go out there and work hard good things will happen."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
Flames fans celebrate Friday night's 'Pink the Rink' Night at the LaHaye Ice Center, bringing awareness to breast cancer prevention.
