Liberty University Club Sports
Jr. Hurricanes
DII women’s hockey notches impressive wins over Rowan, Villanova, U19 Junior Hurricanes
2/13/2023 2:24:48 PM | Women's D2 Hockey
Since opening 2023 with back-to-back home losses to Rowan University, Liberty University’s ACHA Division II women’s hockey team extended its recent run of success to 7-0-1 in its last eight games by doubling the Junior Hurricanes’ U19 Premiere team, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center.
The Lady Flames (15-6-2) struck first on the power play when graduate defenseman Sarah LaPorte sent a beautiful entry pass into sophomore forward Isabel Gracia for a one-timed finish from point-blank range with 31 seconds left in the first period.
Midway through the second, they doubled their advantage to 2-0 when sophomore forward Camille Sponaugle skated the puck out of the defensive zone and up along the right boards before cutting back through the right circle and finishing a putback of her own shot off the arm of the Junior Hurricanes’ goalie Hannah Petrusev into the top-right corner of the cage. Less than five minute later, junior forward Hunter DeGrazia, skating through the left crease, received sophomore right wing Piper Priem’s through pass from the corner and beat Petrusev with a one-timer stick-side, stretching Liberty’s lead to 3-0.
The Hurricanes ended the shutout with a power-play goal with 35 seconds left in the period when Laura Radford’s shot from the top of the left circle off a faceoff win glanced off the glove of Lady Flames junior goalie Alex Ritter and into the top-right corner of the net.
With time 1:20 remaining in regulation, Liberty all but iced the victory with a second-effort finish by Gracia in the right crease after sophomore center Madison Gaddy’s shot in front off back-to-back crossing feeds from freshman forward Brylie Beddell was repelled by Petrusev. The Hurricanes ended the scoring with a fast-break finish with 19 seconds to play as Carleigh Barwick beat Ritter inside the left post.
Last weekend, Liberty exacted a measure of revenge against Rowan, winning on its home ice, 3-1 on Friday night, before tying Saturday’s rematch, 2-2, to improve to 2-2-2 on the season against the Profs. Then on Sunday, playing at a neutral site at the Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester, Pa., the Lady Flames dominated Villanova, the No. 1-ranked team in the Southeast, 8-1. However, the contest was ruled an exhibition because no ACHA-certified referees were available.
“Our girls played very well, although they were tired from the two Rowan games,” Liberty Head Coach Rena Leone said. “They played not overly physical, but with more speed and skated around them.”
Leone is trying to get the ruling changed to a forfeit win for the Lady Flames since it was Villanova’s responsibility to line up the refs.
The Lady Flames (15-6-2) are currently ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region behind Villanova, Delaware, Navy, and Rowan. They will conclude ACHA DII play by traveling to St. Louis to face Maryville on Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. before ending the regular season by traveling to Raleigh, N.C., for another showdown with the Junior Hurricanes on March 3.
As an independent team this season, Liberty must finish in the top four in the region in the final ranking on Feb. 26 to qualify for the March 16-20 ACHA DII Women’s National Championships in Marlborough, Mass. Leone is hopeful the Lady Flames can surpass Rowan in this week’s second-to-last ranking, which will be released on Friday.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
