Liberty players celebrate a goal against McKendree in an October meeting in the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Jessie Jordan)
Top-ranked Lady Flames rally past No. 4 McKendree in WMCH Showcase opener
1/25/2024 6:34:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey
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Liberty will next travel to play Lindenwood late Friday night and No. 5 Maryville on Saturday before six of its players compete in Sunday's WMCH All-Star Game.
Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team, which moved back up to No. 1 ahead of No. 2 Midland (Neb.) in this week's national rankings, rallied from a 1-0 deficit midway through the second period by capitalizing on three power-play opportunities in a 5-1 triumph over No. 4 McKendree (Ill.) University, Thursday afternoon at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Ill.
The Lady Flames (14-3-1) won for the third time this season against the Bearcats, who had ended their 57-game winning streak, 4-3 in overtime, last Jan. 20 in the same rink.
After a scoreless first period, McKendree (12-7-1) captured a 1-0 lead in the second period before Liberty responded with five unanswered goals to seize control and pull away, with Carly Glover netting the equalizer on a shot from the high slot after several near misses by teammates.
Still in the second period, with the Lady Flames on a power play, graduate forward and head captain Rianna Spanier took a pass flipped back from junior forward Zosia Adamek and fired a shot through the right circle that ripped past McKendree goalie Rachel Staresinic into the top-left corner of the cage, for a 2-1 lead and the game winner.
Moments later, Liberty stretched the advantage to 3-1 when junior forward Haley Battles stole the puck on the right wing and skated in before finishing a point-blank shot in the right crease, capping the second-period scoring.
The Lady Flames added two more goals in the third, the first on a power-play on graduate forward Yannick Truter's putback in the right crease of graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch's shot from the high slot. Then, sophomore forward Brookelyn Beauchamp came off the bench and immediately received a cross-ice feed from sophomore defenseman Emerson Oakes and lifted a backhanded shot in the right circle past Staresinic for the final score with 7:15 remaining in regulation.
Liberty will travel to Lindenwood on Friday for a 9:40 p.m. matchup with the No. 11 Lady Lions at the Centene Community Ice Center in Washington Heights, Mo., before concluding their three-game WMCH showcase on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at No. 5 Maryville (Mo.) University.
Six Lady Flames players will represent the East Team in Sunday's 1 p.m. WMCH All-Star Game at the Maryville Ice Center. That inaugural contest will be streamed live on Maryville's YouTube channel. Lady Flames graduate forward and head captain Rianna Spanier scored the game winner in the second period Thursday at McKendree.
