Liberty University Club Sports
Bentley University
DII Flames rise to No. 1 in Southeast Region before staging home sweep of Falcons
2/6/2023 4:08:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey
After overtaking Florida Gulf Coast University for No. 1 in the latest Southeast Region rankings, Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team stretched its winning streak to nine games by sweeping Bentley (Mass.) University at the LaHaye Ice Center — winning Friday's opener, 5-2, and Saturday's rematch, 4-1.
Graduate defenseman Alex Norwinski netted his 11th and 12th goals of the season in the opener, finishing feeds from graduate forward Josh Malin for the only goal in the first period, 3:37 before the first intermission, and sophomore defenseman Rece Poulin and junior wing Trevor Granzow on a power play with 2:50 remaining in the second, extending the Flames' advantage to 4-1. Malin had put Liberty up 2-0 just over a minute after the second-period faceoff by putting away passes from Norwinski and sophomore wing David Hauke before the Falcons trimmed the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal less than two minutes later.
Just 47 seconds after Bentley's goal, sophomore forward Jared Matley responded with his 10th goal of the season, making it a 3-1 contest with 16:09 remaining in the second period, before Tucker capped the scoring for the Flames with an unassisted goal and a 5-1 advantage exactly 1:00 before the second intermission. Bentley added a second power-play goal midway through the third period.
The Flames (24-4-1) outshot the Falcons (12-3, ranked No. 4 in the Northeast Region) by a 35-25 margin and sophomore goalie Lane Skon made 23 saves.
In Saturday's rematch, sophomore center Roman Lamoureux, who had completed back-to-back hat tricks in last weekend's sweep of Keene State (N.H.) College, tallied the only two goals of the second period— his 16th and 17th of the season in the opening 3:23 of play — to lift Liberty to a 2-0 lead. Then, after Bentley drew back within 2-1 just 3:44 into the third, the Flames put the Falcons away with back-to-back goals on special teams — the first finished by freshman center Josh Martin on a power play and second shorthanded by sophomore right wing Eric Abbate in the closing 12 seconds off freshman defenseman Logan Johnson's second assist of the contest to atone for his two roughing penalties.
Liberty outshot Bentley by a 41-35 margin and senior goalie Stephen Saunders recorded 34 saves.
The Flames will travel to New England this weekend for one game at Keene State (14-5, the No. 3 team in the Northeast), on Friday at 7:45 p.m., one at No. 1 Northeast opponent UMass (15-8) on Saturday at 6 p.m., and one at No. 12 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (10-10) on Sunday in Troy, N.Y.
Videos by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
