Freshman forward Mason Smith, who scored the Flames' third goal, skates into a sea of Seawolves at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Brooke McDuffee)
Flames fend off feisty Seawolves, stage series sweep sparked by Bartel’s hat trick
11/4/2023 6:36:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty, ranked No. 15 in the nation in this week's first computer poll, allowed No. 18 Stony Brook to tie the game four times before freshman forward Ryan Finch netted his second game-winning goal in three games.
Senior forward and head captain Matt Bartel netted the second hat trick of his career to help Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team escape with 6-5 victory in back-and-forth battle against Stony Brook, Saturday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center.
"Barty had a strong game for us, he scores three and really looked dangerous all night," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "He led the team well tonight."
Liberty (8-6-1, ranked No. 15) staged its second series sweep of the season, both at home against former ESCHL rivals Delaware and No. 18 Stony Brook (2-5-1). Junior forward Jacob Kalandyk fires a shot blocked by Stony Brook's Jesse Edwards.
Just over five minutes after the opening faceoff, Flames junior forward and leading scorer Jacob Kalandyk had a shot from the right circle glance off the shoulder of Stony Brook goalie Matvei Kazakov and skip off the crossbar. Less than two minutes later, Bartel received feeds from sophomore defenseman Colten Kovich and senior linemate Jason Foltz in the left circle and fired a wrist shot past Kazakov inside the right post for a 1-0 lead with 13:09 to play.
Less than three minutes later, Stony Brook forward Grant Ermellini received Justin Nakagawa's pass from along the backboards in the right crease and one-timed his shot past Flames freshman goalie Jackson Glassford to tie it at 1 at the 10:12 mark.
After a media timeout, Liberty responded quickly to regain the lead when Bartel received a cross-crease feed from linemate Kam Ottenbreit in the same spot where he finished his first score and ripped a one-timed wrist shot into the top-right corner of the cage for a 2-1 advantage with 8:34 left in the first period.
Then, with 2:11 to play in the period, freshman forward Mason Smith tapped in the rebound of junior defenseman Nate Cox's shot from the right point past a sprawling Kazakov to stretch Liberty's lead to 3-1.
"We need those young guys (freshman forwards Ryan Finch and Smith) to continue to contribute and keep doing what they're doing, to get to the net and get shots," Bartel said. "That will help us a lot going forward."
The Flames couldn't capitalize on a power-play opportunity to start the second period and Bartel narrowly missed completing his hat trick seconds after it expired when he rung a shot from the left circle off the crossbar at the 18:15 mark.
Given the reprieve, Stony Brook struck for back-to-back power play goals in a span of 2:22 to re-tie the contest at 3 with 11:36 to play in the second period. Defenseman Owen Larson drew the Seawolves within 3-2 on a shot from the high slot that beat Glassford stickside before forward Matteo Daita chipped a putback in traffic over Glassford who had kick-saved Devin Pepe's initial attempt.
"We lost our focus at the start of the second period, which was not a great period," Handy said. "We just got complacent when we were up 3-1. We came out on the power play and we didn't execute and that strings over and we take two bad penalties in a row and then they score a power-play goal and then we take another penalty and they score another power-play goal. In less than six minutes, we took three penalties, so we're killing for long stretches. We've got guys sitting, guys not playing. Then on top of that, we gave them a lot of goals by not managing the puck better. We turned the puck over." Flames senior forward Truett Olson controls the puck in a crowd of Seawolves.
Granted another power-play opportunity, late in the second period, Bartel didn't hesitate to capitalize and finish off his hat trick, receiving feeds from defensemen Nick Pomerleau and Kevin Bite near the top of the left circle and rocketing another wrist shot past replacement goalie Scott Barnikow — through a narrow window framed by senior forward Truett Olson and graduate forward Jackson Vercellono — for a 4-3 Liberty lead.
"It was great to be able to shoot the puck a bunch and to put them in there and help the team win," Bartel said. "It was a good game, good to get the win, but it will be a good lesson for the team to not let our foot off the gas once we get up a couple goals. We've got to continue to play the same way, and also we've got to stay out of the (penalty) box. Those PKs were killing us there."
Seawolves leading scorer Matt Minerva netted yet another equalizer for Stony Brook at the 18:06 mark of the third period by intercepting Finch's cross-ice pass in the Flames defensive zone and threading a shot through the glove and body of Glassford.
But less than a minute later, the Flames' top scoring line got on the board when Vercellono skated out of the left corner along the endline before flicking a backhanded feed through the blue ice to Olson for a sure-fire finish from the right crease with 17:08 still to play.
Pomerleau struck another crossbar with his shot from the top of the left circle before the Flames were unable to convert on another power play, giving the Seawolves a chance to tie the contest for a fourth time at 5-5. Ermellini tallied his second equalizer by slicing his way between two defensemen and tucking the putback of his own blocked shot past Glassford from near the left post with 8:15 remaining in regulation. Junior defenseman Nate Cox starts a breakout behind freshman forward Ryan Finch.
However, persistence paid off for the Flames as their fourth go-ahead goal of the contest counted as the game-winner, the second in three games by Finch, who atoned for his turnover by taking passes from Smith and Kovich, skating around a Stony Brook defenseman and sneaking a shot from the left crease through the five hole with 4:31 to play.
Handy took both positives and negatives away from the narrow win.
"We got fortunate that we were able to find the back of the net at the end on a nice goal by Finch, but we need a better effort from our team," he said. "We kind of let the game get away from us and then we had to battle our way back in, and that's important. On the weekend as a whole, we got contributions from everyone and that's really important. We wanted to get some chemistry from the lines and we saw that this weekend."
Liberty outshot the Seawolves by a 47-27 count and Glassford made 22 saves for his first win despite raising his goals-against average to 4.62.
"Congrats to Jackson Glassford for his first win as a Flame in net, which is awesome," Handy said.
"It feels good to sweep at home," Finch added. "We should keep winning at home because it means a lot to the fans and us (so) we've got to stay on top and keep going instead of getting comfortable. (The Seawolves) never gave up, so props to them. It wasn't our best game, but I'm proud that we stuck with it and kept coming on top."
Liberty will entertain No. 14 Ohio next Friday and Saturday nights back at the LIC.
"We've got two more big games before Thanksgiving, so it's important that we lay it all on the line here," Handy said, noting that graduate goalie Hunter Virostek, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday, could be ready to return from injury against the Bobcats.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
