Flames senior forward Brett Gammer crashes the Delaware cage during a past showdown with the Blue Hens at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Chase Gyles)
DI Flames back in town, welcome former ESCHL foes Blue Hens to the LIC
10/5/2023 12:58:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty will seek to extend its winning streak against Delaware to 20 games in Friday's 7 p.m. series opener.
Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team welcomes a familiar opponent to the LaHaye Ice Center this weekend in former ESCHL rival Delaware. The Flames have had their way with the Blue Hens in recent years, winning the last 19 meetings in a row to overtake the 2012 ACHA DI national champions in the all-time series.
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With this being Delaware's season-opening weekend, there are a lot of unknowns about this year's team and Liberty is not tempted to underestimate the Blue Hens.
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"We are going to play our game," Flames senior forward Brett Gammer said. "We will take it one shift at a time, do all the small things right, and we should be rewarded in the end. We want to keep working on things to make us better."
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Liberty is recovering from back-to-back series sweeps at the hands of top-ranked, defending ACHA DI national champion Minot State, Sept. 23-24 in Lynchburg, Va., and last weekend in Minot, N.D.
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"Those road trips are always tough on our bodies, especially when you're playing Minot," Gammer said. "They're a hard-hitting team. We learned a lot from going through those losses and it stings for sure, but hopefully, we can apply what we learned to the rest of the year."
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He said being more physical, especially on the backcheck, is an area the Flames can improve on. Despite a few injuries, he believes the team will be primed to play at the top of its game this weekend. Â
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"Our guys are doing a good job of taking care of our bodies and healing up," Gammer said. "We'll be ready to go for Friday. On our team, we have a next-man-up mentality. We have a deep roster, so when a player goes down, we look for the next man to step up and fill those gaps."
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Graduate forward Jackson Vercellono and senior DJ Schwenke battle the Blue Hens.Scouting Preview for Games 6-7: Delaware (18-17-1 in 2022-23) at No. 4 Liberty (1-3-1), Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Va. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
All-Time Series:Â Liberty leads Delaware, 32-18-2, after extending its winning streak against the Blue Hens to 19 games by sweeping last season's only series in Lynchburg, Va., by 6-3 and 10-0 scores. When they were ESCHL rivals, the Flames won all five meetings in the 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 seasons, including all three clashes in the conference playoffs.
Liberty Scouting Report:Â After being outshot by Minot State by more than a 2-to-1 ratio (105-50) in the first series, the Flames turned the tables on the Beavers in the shot department in last Friday's first game, holding a slight 31-30 edge in regulation before falling in a shootout, 3-2. However, they were outshot in Saturday's rematch, 38-24, and after allowing just one goal on eight Minot power-play opportunities in their series at the LIC, Liberty's penalty kill unit gave up four goals in eight chances in the 8-1 setback.
Offensively, the Flames' attack is fueled by senior forwards Jacob Kalandyk (4 goals, 2 assists), freshman forward Ryan Finch (3G, 2A), and junior defenseman Kevin Bite (2G, 3A), with graduate forward Jackson Vercellono leading the team with four assists.
In goal, graduate Hunter Virostek is Liberty's anchor, even in defeat. He had a rough outing on Saturday, which dropped his record to 1-3-1 and save percentage to 89.5 while raising his goals-against average to 4.15. Backup goalie Nick Bernstein, a sophomore transfer from NCAA Division III Chatham (Pa.), enjoyed a solid DI debut in relief against the Beavers, allowing only one goal in 30 minutes of action (2.00 GAA) while making 12 saves (92.3 SP) in the no decision.Â
Delaware Scouting Report: The Blue Hens return three of their top six scorers from last season — forwards Dominic Guido (25G, 2 GWG, 15A), Ryan Rodrigues (15G, 2 GWG, 14A), and Patrick Meckle (6G, 16A) — and both of their goalies, Jacob Snellenburg (9-9-1, 3.50 GAA, 90.7 SP) and Griffin Iglesias (9-8, 3.69 GAA, 89.0 SP, 1 SO). Delaware was eliminated by Stony Brook in the first round of the ESCHL playoffs last spring after being ousted by the Seawolves in the tournament final in 2022.
Coaches: 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 517-214-33. Todd Mittelmeier was promoted to Delaware's head coach in the middle of the 2018-19 season and has compiled a 72-59-2 record since then.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & MediaSenior forward Kam Ottenbreit gets beyond Delaware's defense during a rush on the cage at the LaHaye Ice Center in the 2021-22 season.
