DII Flames go 1-2 against top teams in Southeast, Central regions in Ohio

Friday, January 19

Oxford, OH

9:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Florida Gulf Coast University

Junior wing Luke Tucker looks back during an Oct. 13 game against Lindenwood at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Matt Reynolds)

DII Flames go 1-2 against top teams in Southeast, Central regions in Ohio

1/23/2024 2:09:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey

Liberty struggled on the power play over the weekend and could not stage the upset of top-ranked Florida Gulf Coast University (Southeast) or Lindenwood (Central).

Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team lost competitive battles against the No. 1-ranked teams in the Southeast Region (Florida Gulf Coast University, 3-0 on Friday) and Central Region (Lindenwood University, 4-2 on Sunday), but salvaged the weekend trip to the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio, by defeating Concordia-Wisconsin, the No. 2-ranked team in the Central, 6-2 on Saturday.

"This weekend is one of our favorite weekends of the season, playing in a beautiful facility (home of Miami (Ohio) University)," Flames Head Coach Ben Hughes said. "We love playing against a top-ranked teams each day over a weekend because you find out a lot about yourselves and your team when you are really tested by the fire. We definitely found out some areas where we need to work on and grow."

On Friday, Liberty (13-9) was shut out by FGCU, a team that dealt the Flames a fall-semester-ending 3-0, 6-5 sweep on Dec. 1-2 in Fort Myers, Fla. Liberty responded by dominating Concordia-Wisconsin, getting four goals in the second period from sophomore forwards Thomas Kayner and Josh Martin and junior forwards Jared Matley and junior center Roman Lamoureux before adding two more in the third by sophomore forward Antonio Vidal and Kayner.

Following a scoreless first period on Sunday, Liberty led Lindenwood, 2-1, going into the third period after scoring the tying and go-ahead goals in the final eight seconds of the second — on a shorthander by Lamoureux off an assist from Kayner and an unassisted goal by sophomore defenseman Logan Starkey at the buzzer off the ensuing faceoff.

However, Hughes said an undisciplined penalty against the Flames allowed the Lions to score the first of three unanswered goals on a power play, with the last coming on an empty netter with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.

Lindenwood outshot Liberty 38-28 and junior goalie Lane Skon made 35 saves in the setback.

"Over the weekend, we found that we play our best when we're playing physical and applying pressure, playing aggressive and separating the puck from the puck carrier, being hard on the forecheck and playing with urgency," Hughes said. "When we're playing that way, we're playing our best. We were not playing that way as consistently as we needed to."
He said special teams is an area the Flames need to strengthen, especially finding production on the power play.

"We're not going to win any playoff hockey games if our power play cannot execute," Hughes said. "We are taking it on as a coaching staff to practice that more, to teach better habits to have more success (with a man advantage). Our penalty kill has been doing great (but) the lack of efficiency on the power play is holding our team back."

He said the goal of the power play unit is to score on 30 percent of the chances the Flames have, but the team was held scoreless on six chances over the weekend.

This weekend, Liberty returns to the LaHaye Ice Center, where it is 11-3 this season, to take on Keene State (N.H.) College, ranked third in the Northeast Region, on Friday at 7:30 and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Flames will then host Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 2-3 and conclude the regular season by traveling to New Hampshire and Massachusetts for games at Keene State, UMass-Amherst, and Boston University on Feb. 9-11.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer