Flames senior forward Kam Ottenbreit skates past a Minot State player in last weekend's Midnight Mayhem showdown in the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Chase Gyles)
Fourth-ranked Flames outdueled by top-ranked Beavers in shootout in Minot, N.D.
9/30/2023 12:10:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty lost an early lead for the third time in a row, but battled back to tie the game during a 5-minute major late in the third period.
Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team forced Friday night's rematch with defending national champion Minot State to overtime before allowing the only goal on four attempts for both teams in a shootout to suffer a 3-2 setback at Maysa Arena.
The fourth-ranked Flames (1-2-1) were coming off back-to-back two-goal losses to the top-ranked Beavers (5-0) and appeared primed for the upset after Wednesday's long road trip to Minot, N.D.
"It was a great battle," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We outshot Minot tonight, 31-30 (in regulation). Our guys battled hard tonight. I thought our guys played their best game of the year. At this time of the year, you're trying to find ways to improve as a team. We're resilient and we're continuing to get better."
Graduate goalie Hunter Virostek, who kept Liberty in contention with the Beavers in its two games back in Lynchburg, Va., when the Flames were outshot by a 2-to-1 ratio, made a couple clutch saves early, including one on a Minot State breakaway opportunity and another on a quick shot by Troy Hamilton through the left circle.
On the other end of the ice, Liberty applied plenty of pressure of its own, outshooting the Beavers 8-6 in the first period with freshman forward Ryan Finch narrowly missing a couple quality chances in the right circle just over the head of Minot goalie Jake Anthony.
In the final minute of the period, Flames graduate forward Jackson Vercellono stole an outlet pass near the blue line and skated into the right circle before being taken out of the play with a solid side-check as he released a pass into senior forward Truett Olson, whose point-blank shot was shut down by Anthony.
Just 15 seconds into the second period, Liberty netted the game's first goal on a shot by Finch lifted over the shoulder of Anthony from the right side of the circle after stealing the puck at the red line and skating down the right wing.
"That was a beautiful goal by Ryan Finch after skating across the blue line," Handy said. "He buried it from a sharp angle to give us the early lead."
With the Beavers on a power play, Virostek stopped right-circle shots through traffic by Jay Buchholz and Hamilton. The Flames' PK unit successfully killed that penalty, but Minot State went back on the man advantage a few minutes later and capitalized on a left-circle shot by Hamilton after a quick tic-tac-toe pass sequence capped by a backhanded assist from the slot, tying the game at 1-1.
The Beavers went back on the power play with just over a minute to go in the second period, but Flames senior forward Brett Gammer nearly netted a shorthanded goal on a breakaway counterattack after skating down the right wing and across the slot. However, Anthony smothered his backhander in front, keeping the score tied going into the second intermission and third period.
Less than two and a half minutes into the third period, the Beavers seized their first lead when Trenton Curtis slammed home the putback of a shot from along the right boards by Christian Kadolph into an open net from the left crease for a 2-1 lead.
A minute after a 5-minute major assessed to Minot's Colby Joseph, the Flames struck back to tie the contest at 2-2 on a slapshot by sophomore defenseman Laz Kaebel from near the left boards off senior forward Jacob Kalandyk's assist from the high slot. The Beavers killed off the final four minutes of that penalty and regulation ended with the score still tied. With 1:48 left in the 5-minute overtime period, Kaebel was tripped up along the right boards near the Flames' bench, putting them back on a power play for the duration.
However, Liberty again could not manufacture the go-ahead goal and the game went to a shootout.
"The game goes to overtime and we can't get it done, so it goes to a shootout, and anything can happen in a shootout," Handy said.
Hamilton was denied by Virostek on Minot's first attempt before Kalandyk's first try was snuffed by Anthony. Freshman defenseman Owen Lugowski helped anchor a solid D-corps at Minot State.
Beavers forward Reid Arnold had his chance rejected by Virostek before Finch and Buchholz had their shots glove saved by the respective goaltenders and Flames senior forward Jason Foltz hit the left post with his wrist shot.
Minot State's Joey Moffatt broke the scoreless tie by beating Virostek inside the left post. Then Kaebel weaved in and out down the slot before having his potentially game-tying shot glove-saved by Anthony, his 32nd save of the night, ending the contest.
The two teams will battle for the fourth time in eight days on Saturday, with the puck again dropping at 8:30 p.m. in Maysa Arena, streamed live on the NSIC Network.
"We'll get back at it tomorrow," Handy said. "We aren't going to hang our heads. Our guys worked hard tonight. We played better in our D zone, but we've got to clean up that second period. There are things we can continue to improve on, but this was a step in the right direction tonight."
