Flames keep Icepack attack in check, pull away with three-goal flurry early in second period of opener

Friday, September 15

Lynchburg, Va.

07:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

North Carolina State University

Freshman forward Mason Smith (2) battles for a loose puck in front of the Icepack's cage. (Photos by KJ Jugar)

Flames keep Icepack attack in check, pull away with three-goal flurry early in second period of opener

9/15/2023 11:31:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

After a slow start, Liberty’s ACHA Division I men’s hockey team lived up to its preseason hype with a 7-2 triumph over North Carolina State.

After a slow start, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team lived up to its preseason hype by netting three goals in a 44-second span early in the second period of a 7-2 triumph over North Carolina State, Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center.

The offensive outburst fired up a sold-out crowd that included newly appointed Liberty President Dondi Costin and his wife, Vickey.

"That was definitely the first time I've experienced an atmosphere like that and I loved every second of it," said Flames junior defenseman Kevin Bite, a transfer from NCAA Division III Johnson & Wales. "It was a lot of fun."

"It was a great night to open up with," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy added. "There's always going to be a little bit of jitters, and you saw that in the first period, but as the game went on, we started to get stronger and we settled in pretty well, actually."

President-Costin-puck-drop — Liberty President Dondi Costin and his wife, Vickey, officiate the pre-game puck-drop.

President Costin, an outspoken fan of Flames Hockey, set the stage by performing the ceremonial pre-game puck drop for Liberty senior forward and head captain Matt Bartel and his counterpart for the Icepack.

The teams battled to a scoreless tie for the majority of the first period before the Flames finally broke the scoring ice with 11.9 seconds left in the period when Bite received a cross-ice pass from Brett Gammer off a secondary assist from fellow senior forward DJ Schwenke and snuck a shot from inside the right circle past NC State goalie Isaac Tawyer.

"I play both ends, but tonight was definitely a more offensive game for me," Bite said.

Just 1:39 into the second period, Liberty struck again when sophomore defenseman Laz Kaebel rocketed a shot from the high slot that glanced off the leg of a defenseman in front and past the left pad of Tawyer inside the right post.

Then, just eight seconds after the ensuing faceoff, senior forward Jacob Kalandyk, the Flames' leading scorer last season, ripped a one-timer from the top of the left circle into the upper netting past Tawyer, igniting the fans on hand and extending their lead to 3-0.

At the 17:37 mark, Kalandyk netted another goal, tucking in the rebound of a shot by senior forward Jackson Vercellono from deep in the right crease.

"Once they started going in, it was kind of full throttle," Bite said. "We didn't slam on the brakes at all, we just kept grinding away and tried to continue to build momentum no matter what the situation on the ice was. We just wanted to focus on our game and keep moving forward."

With the teams skating 4-on-4 at the 11:02 mark, Icepack forward Holden Koufman stopped the bleeding by capitalizing on a steal with a quick breakaway down the slot, finishing with a left-handed wrist shot into the upper netting.

But moments later, with 17 seconds left on an NC State power play, the Flames retaliated with a shorthanded breakaway of their own. Freshman forward Ryan Finch, who is from NC State territory in Raleigh, N.C., received a pass from junior defenseman Nate Cox and sneaked a shot from deep in the slot inside the lower-left post, padding the advantage to 5-1 with 9:18 to play in the period.

Laz-Kaebel — Sophomore defenseman Laz Kaebel applies a forecheck on an Icepack player.

The Icepack cut the deficit back to three goals at 5-2 with 11:25 remaining in regulation when forward Nick Shook skated in from the left corner and beat Liberty graduate goalie Hunter Virostek short-side with his point-blank shot. But freshman defenseman Marty Mocs (formerly named Marty Marnauzs) answered less than two minutes later with a nifty third-chance wraparound goal inside the right post off an assist from Cox with 9:34 to play.

"It was nice to see our young guys score, Marty and Finch and Bite," Handy said. "Playing in this environment is tough, but as the game goes on, you get more used to it and they settled in. We're excited for them to continue on here."

With the Flames on a power play, Bartel put the finishing touches on the five-goal victory by taking a pass from Mocs and ripping a wrist shot from the right circle into the upper netting with 5:25 to go.

Virostek made a series of saves over the final three minutes as the Flames extinguished a 5-on-3 power play by the Icepack.

"We obviously want to tighten up our D zone and we want to stay out of the box," Handy said. "We took too many penalties tonight, so it's a learning lesson for us as we move forward."

The game served as an excellent tune-up for the Flames as they prepare to host the defending ACHA DI national champion Minot State in the first of three Midnight Mayhem matchups next Friday at 11:59 p.m., followed by a rematch Saturday at 7 p.m. and two games on Minot's home ice the following weekend.

President-Costin-prayer — President Costin prays over the Flames in the team room before Friday night's opening faceoff.

"We've got a big road ahead," Handy said. "Mission accomplished tonight and we move forward for tomorrow. We'll be ready to go. It will be good opportunity for us to learn in a game situation."

Bite said while they could take plenty of positives out of the opener, it left the fourth-ranked Flames with areas to clean up and ample room for improvement as they prepare for four games against the No. 1-ranked Beavers.

"We're definitely excited for it and looking forward to it," Bite said. "We've got a big week of practice coming up and it's time to go back to work now. This certainly wasn't a perfect game by us by any means and we know that we hold ourselves to a much higher standard than what we put out there today. We need to put a stronger emphasis on our systems and communication all over the ice is going to make our game a lot easier going into next weekend."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Videos by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media