Rock the Rink podcast celebrates Christmas with look back at action-packed fall semester

On its most recent podcast, Liberty University's Rock the Rink team of analysts recapped the last series of the fall semester for the Flames and Lady Flames' five hockey teams (Division I, II, and III men, Division I and II women) and offered a glimpse of what to expect from them in the New Year.

Early on in the 52-minute show, Rett McGibbon, Patrick Strawn, and Chris Kerr gave props to Flames Football Head Coach Jamey Chadwell for dropping by the LaHaye Ice Center (LIC) with the Conference USA Championship trophy during the Midnight Mayhem opener of Liberty's DI men's hockey team's semester-ending series sweep of Pittsburgh on Dec. 2.

Brityn-Fussy-Liberty-DI-women — Brityn Fussy, who graduated this month, was named the Offensive MVP for the fall.
(Photo by Ryan Anderson)

They proceeded to discuss in depth the DI men's team's line combinations, which started firing on all cylinders during the seven-game winning streak to end the year, which should set them up well for the remainder of their spring schedule. Collectively, the Flames' four lines will give them an advantage over most of their opponents as they prepare to make another deep run at the March 7-12 ACHA National Championships in St. Louis.

Switching gears to the top-ranked, five-time defending ACHA DI national champion Lady Flames, talk shifted to the semester-ending trip to No. 2 Midland (Neb.) University, which staged the first series sweep of Liberty in seventh-year Head Coach Chris Lowes' tenure behind the bench. The Lady Flames responded with a semester-ending victory over No. 12 Jamestown (N.D.) University on Dec. 2, which was the last game for senior forward Brityn Fussy, who graduated this month.

Fussy's younger sister, fellow alternate captain Brielle, will take a larger leadership role in the spring semester. Liberty will also be strengthened by the return of at least two players from injury — senior forward Carly Glover, who played on the DII team at the end of the fall semester, and graduate forward and alternate captain Yannick Truter, who should be back in action after taking a hard hit against the boards in a 7-0 victory over McKendree (Ill.) University on Oct. 7.

Thomas-Kayner-UMass — DII Flames forward Thomas Kayner skates by a UMass player on Oct. 27.
(Photo by Jacob Summersgill)

Regarding the DII men's hockey team, ranked fourth in the Southeast Region after being swept in the semester-ending series at No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast University, McGibbon noted that when the Flames host No. 6 Penn State, to start the spring semester on Jan. 12-13 at the LIC, that will be the lowest-ranked team they will face the rest of the way. For the first time since seventh-year Head Coach Ben Hughes' first two seasons at the helm, Liberty will likely need to win both games in the Southeast Region tournament to advance to the ACHA DII National Championships, set for March 11-15 in St. Louis.

The podcast trio touched on the DIII men's team's sweep of Penn State Harrisburg to end the fall semester at 5-4, noting that the Flames will have an opportunity to get into a better rhythm in the spring when they are scheduled to play 10 games on five consecutive weekends before traveling to Winston-Salem (N.C.) for the March 1-3 ACCHL Tournament. That will include home series against Christopher Newport University (Jan. 19-20), College of Charleston (Jan. 27-28), High Point University (Feb. 3-4), and Appalachian State (Feb. 17-18) and a trip to rival Coastal Carolina (Feb. 10-11), which snuffed the Flames in the past two ACCHL finals.

The Rock the Rink episode, which featured a few Christmas references, wrapped up by spotlighting the Lady Flames' DII team (10-4-1), which ended the semester on a four-game winning streak capped by Head Coach Rena Leone's 50th win at the helm, an 11-0 rout of the University of Virginia at the LIC on Dec. 3, two weeks after a home sweep of Maryville by 10-0 and 1-0 scores.

Liberty, which narrowly missed national championship bids the past two seasons, is ranked fourth in the Southeast Region in Leone's fourth season at the helm, with the top five advancing to the March 12-16 tournament in St. Louis.

Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media

Gabrielle-Moss-Liberty-DII-women — Lady Flames DII freshman forward Gabrielle Moss is crunched by three players from last year's College Hockey East rival Rowan.
(Photo by Kendall Tidwell)

Rock the Rink podcast celebrates Christmas with look back at action-packed fall semester

Players Mentioned

Carly Glover

Yannick Truter

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