Senior forward Rianna Spanier skates against the Adrian Bulldogs in their Jan. 27-28 series at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Brooke McDuffee)
Lady Flames rally in third period to extend winning streak against Bulldogs to 21 games
11/3/2023 9:46:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey
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Top-ranked Liberty got back-to-back power-play goals by graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch to pull out a 3-2 win at No. 3 Adrian College.
A showdown between Liberty University's top-ranked, five-time-defending national champion ACHA Division I women's hockey team and No. 3 Adrian College turned out to be nearly as dramatic as its showdown in last season's national semifinals.
In that contest, the Lady Flames erased a 4-1 deficit late in the second period to win 5-4 in sudden-death overtime on a goal by Yannick Truter, who was playing with a broken wrist.
This time, with Truter still sidelined by a lower-body injury suffered in the second game of an Oct. 6-7 sweep McKendree University, Liberty erased a 2-1 deficit with back-to-back power-play goals by graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch in a 3-2 triumph at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Mich.
"Obviously, today's game was a special teams battle," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "Both teams struggled to generate offense (at even strength). We won two of three periods, outscoring them 1-0 in the first and third. We only had a few shots in the second period," when the Bulldogs outscored Liberty, 2-1, "but we found a way to get it done."
It was the 21st consecutive time that the Lady Flames (7-0-1) have defeated the Bulldogs (7-2).
"For a team we consider our rivals, we've had their number," said Lowes, whose team defeated Adrian in the 2017-18 season's national championship final for their second title and the first of five in a row under his watch. "It is an exciting weekend for us, with three games against two of our best rivals, for a total of six points at stake and we are hoping to get all six."
Just over five minutes after the opening faceoff, Liberty sophomore defenseman Brookelyn Beauchamp struck the crossbar with a two-on-one wrist shot from deep in the left circle.
Moments later, junior forward Brielle Fussy backhanded the putback of Stretch's wraparound attempt past Adrian goalie Chloe Burt off a secondary assist from freshman forward Ellie Sarauer for a 1-0 advantage with 13:49 to play in the period.
The Bulldogs tied it at 1 with a fast-break goal on the power play with 17:49 left in the second period, confirmed through video review by the officials, after Makenzie Villiard snuck a sharp-angled shot from the left circle past Lady Flames sophomore goalie Alex Keith with the puck trickling across the goal line and back out of the net.
Adrian then seized a 2-1 lead when forward Rhea Peterson gathered the rebound of a shot from the point off a right faceoff win and sent a backhand from behind the right post off the back of Keith and into the back of the cage at the 16:42 mark of the third period.
But Stretch tied it at 2 by providing a screen in front of Burt and deflecting junior defenseman Madison Glynn's shot from the high slot past her with 13:14 remaining in regulation.
"It was good to see her get a puck through on the power play and she looked dangerous, especially on special teams," Lowes said of Glynn.
Then, with 8:56 to go, the Lady Flames got the go-ahead goal on another power play when Stretch tucked in the putback of graduate forward and head captain Rianna Spanier's shot from the outside edge of the left circle.
Adrian outshot Liberty by a 34-27 margin for the contest and Keith made 32 saves to preserve the win.
"They had some moments, with lots of net battles, scrums in the crease," Lowes said. "Tonight was another battle, hopefully that will result in us being battle-tested in the end of the year when the games will matter the most."
Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch will be streamed live on ACTV.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterSenior defenseman Peyton Carle clears the puck along the boards during the teams' meeting at the LaHaye Ice Center in January.
