Senior defenseman Nathan Mulder controls the puck in front of two Penn State players. (Photos by Aziz Ibrahim)
DII Flames dominate Penn State in semester-opening sweep at the LIC
1/16/2024 9:49:00 AM | Men's D2 Hockey
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Liberty outshot the Nittany Lions by a 98-35 margin over the two games, a 3-1 win Friday night and 13-1 rout Saturday afternoon.
Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team opened spring semester play with a resounding sweep of Penn State on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center, edging the Nittany Lions 3-1 in the opener before trouncing them by a 13-1 final in the rematch.
"The first period of Friday's game was one of the best we've played this season, but the second and third periods were not great, and we needed to prove ourselves on Saturday, to play a whole 60 minutes of hockey," Flames Head Coach Ben Hughes said. "We answered our own call on Saturday."
Liberty (12-7) opened the series ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region with Penn State (9-9) at No. 6.
The Flames outshot Penn State by nearly a 3-1 margin in the two games (40-15 and 58-20). After converting just 1-of-6 power-play chances in the opener, Liberty capitalized on all five opportunities with a man advantage in the rematch.
"It was great to see the power play get a couple goals, great to have guys get their confidence going, especially against a good team that we've had a lot of close battles with over the years," Hughes said.
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Senior forward David Hauke scored an insurance goal in the third period on Friday.
Junior center Roman Lamoureux started the scoring in the opener by finishing assists from sophomore forward Thomas Kayner and senior defenseman Rece Poulin with 15:19 left in the first period. Penn State tied it up at the 3:19 mark before junior center Josh Sherwood netted the game-winner off assists from Kayner and Lamoureux less than a minute later. Senior forward David Hauke added an insurance goal on a power play off assists from Lamoureux and sophomore forward Mark Padgett with 13:30 remaining in regulation.
Flames junior goalie Lane Skon made 14 saves in the victory, improving to 10-5-1 and lowering his goals-against average to 2.43.
In the rematch, Liberty opened a 4-1 advantage after the first period and extended it to 7-1 after the second and tacked on six more goals in the third. The Flames got goals from 10 different players including two apiece from Lamoureux, their leading scorer on the season, second-leading scorer Jared Matley, and fellow junior forward Eric Abbate.
Freshman Christian "JC" Sehlke made 19 saves to earn the win in net.
Defensively, Kent, who transferred in from Adrian (Mich.) College where he played on its ACHA DI national championship team in 2021, showcased his prowess.
"Dylan was our best defenseman back there," Hughes said. "He stepped up in Saturday's game and had one of his better games. He has grit, poise, all the defensive capabilities and it was great to see him continue to be a leader on the team and play the way he did."
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Hughes is hopeful the Flames will move up a spot or two in the next rankings after this past weekend, when No. 2 Indiana was swept by No. 5 Miami (Ohio) University, and No. 3 Kentucky was swept by top-ranked Florida Gulf Coast University.
"It was a big weekend, with all the top six teams playing," Hughes said, noting that this weekend the Flames will face the No. 1-ranked team in the Southeast Region (FGCU) and the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the Central Region (Lindenwood and Concordia-Wisconsin, respectively, in the Central Region) during a showcase tournament hosted by Miami (Ohio). "It will be a pretty heavy weekend. We pride ourselves in having a really tough strength of schedule, which could make it more challenging, but long-term it will be beneficial for our guys."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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Forwards Eric Abbate (19) and Josh Martin (10) and defensemen Dylan Kent (4) and Rece Poulin (8) break out of the defensive zone.Â
