Fussy completes hat trick in OT to lead Lady Flames to series sweep against UMass-Amherst

Friday, October 20

Lynchburg, Va.

10:15 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Massachusetts

Lady Flames senior forward Brityn Fussy skates the puck against UMass-Amherst in Friday night's series opener at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Jacob Summersgill)

Fussy completes hat trick in OT to lead Lady Flames to series sweep against UMass-Amherst

10/21/2023 10:25:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey

Senior forward Brityn Fussy scored five goals in two games against the Minutewomen, helping the Lady Flames stage a 5-0, 3-2 home sweep.

Senior forward Brityn Fussy, who scored twice in Friday night's 5-0 series opening win over the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, netted her team-high seventh, eighth, and ninth goals of the season, completing her hat trick with 1:33 to play in overtime to lift Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team to a 3-2 triumph Saturday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"Brit's such a special player," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "We've been lucky to have her as long as we have. She's got some things that she's developed herself, some things that are maybe just part of her makeup."

Peyton-Carle-Liberty-defenseman — Lady Flames senior defenseman Peyton Carle passes the puck across the high slot.

Fussy started the scoring in Saturday's rematch on the power play, rifling a shot through traffic in the left circle inside the left post with graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch providing a screen in front for a 1-0 lead at the 15:22 mark.

With 34 seconds to play in the period, the Minutewomen tied it up after Liberty failed to clear the puck out of its own end and defenseman Shelby Little received a pass out of the left corner in the high slot and ripped a shot that ricocheted off the top-left corner of the cage down into the back of the net.

The score remained tied for more than 10 minutes, with UMass killing a 5-on-3 power play by the Lady Flames before Fussy struck again, taking a pass across the slot and firing an open shot into the top-right corner of the net with 10:22 to go in the second period.

"She's always just really been a skilled player and can pick corners when she shoots," said sophomore defenseman Emerson Oakes, who was named Liberty's player of the game by her teammates.

After skating down the right wing, UMass forward Joanna Dustin lifted a wrist shot from the right circle into the top-left corner of the cage, tying the contest at 2-2 with 14:52 remaining in the third period.

"It was a quick turnaround from last night (but) there was a lot to like today, but obviously, we made some mistakes and they capitalized on them," Lowes said. "Those breakdowns, one's a missed assignment, one's a bad turnover, those stick with us, but it's part of the process."

The Lady Flames (5-1) had their share of near misses, with junior defenseman Madison Glynn drawing iron in the first period, senior defenseman Peyton Carle hitting a post in the second, and Fussy's shot from the top of the right circle glancing off the crossbar midway through the five-minute sudden-death overtime period.

But about a minute later, with the teams battling 3-on-3, Fussy controlled a loose puck in the slot and ripped a wrist shot into the top-left corner for the game winner, completing her hat trick with 1:33 to go.

"It was a little closer than it needed to be, but we pulled through in the end," Oakes said. "We were all on our toes a little bit, especially in overtime, because it's sudden-death, make-or-break, so it was good to see (Fussy score)."

"Give UMass a ton of credit. They played us tough," Lowes added. "They were willing to give us what they gave us and for the most part, we weren't able to crack through. Really happy to have that overtime winner and obviously Brit played a big part in today's win."

Already short graduate forward Yannick Truter and senior forward Carly Glover with lower-body injuries, the Lady Flames lost another key contributor on offense when freshman forward Ellie Sarauer went down with an upper-body injury in the first period.

"We have a couple girls out right now with injuries so we're kind of short on the bench, but we still make do and all of the girls are stepping up and getting comfortable in their roles," Oakes said.

"The girls just needed to calm down and go back to our simple plays and play the game the way we know how to play it and get down and dirty in front of the net and get shovels out and get pucks in the net."

Haley-Battles-Liberty-forward — Junior forward Haley Battles scored the second goal in Friday's late night 5-0 triumph.

In Friday night's opener, which started at 10:15 p.m., the Lady Flames netted single goals by Fussy and junior forward Haley Battles in the first two periods before adding three in the third.

Fussy started the scoring with an authoritative finish after skating through the right circle and completed the scoring with 1:39 left in the game when she maneuvered the puck through defensemen and into the back of the net. Sarauer had extended Liberty's lead to 3-0 just 24 seconds into the third period by putting away a pass from junior defenseman Brookelyn Beauchamp before graduate forward and head captain Rianna Spanier deflected in Glynn's shot from the high slot off a secondary assist from Carle.

UMass goalie Mary Honan made 44 saves in the opener, when Liberty outshot the Minutewomen (2-3-1) by a 49-9 margin. Sarah Matthews stood tall for UMass in Saturday's rematch, making 51 saves as the Liberty held a 54-18 shot advantage.

"We produced a lot of shots from the point," Lowes said. "We'd like to see a few more of them getting on net with better rebounds and finishing those touches, but there's lots of positives from the weekend. We had people step up. (Senior defenseman) Priscilla Ziefle gave us really good minutes at forward and we're seeing other girls whose roles have been increased."

The Lady Flames will have next weekend off before traveling to Adrian (Mich.) College for two games and Miami (Ohio) for one from Nov. 3-5, missing Liberty's Homecoming Weekend.
"We've got a couple of weeks to get ready," Lowes said. "We love playing at Adrian and it will be a fun road trip for us."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Videos by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media