Senior forward and alternate captain Truett Olson skates behind the UNC Chapel Hill cage in a season-opening 7-1 win on Sept. 13 at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Simon Barbre)
Flames to host former ESCHL rival Blue Hens in Midnight Mayhem series opener
10/3/2024 11:29:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty has won 22 of the past 23 meetings with Delaware, which is off to a 4-0 start this season and split the last series with the Flames in Newark, Del.
Heading into the first of three Midnight Mayhem matchups of the season late Friday night against Delaware, Liberty University's No. 5-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team has plenty of momentum after sweeping another ESCHL foe, No. 10 Pittsburgh, on the road last weekend. A sellout crowd is anticipated for the third home date in a row to start the regular season at the LaHaye Ice Center.
"We are excited about that," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "It will be unbelievable. The big thing for us is to manage the crowd well, to use it in our favor and not against us."
Handy huddled the Flames up after Wednesday afternoon's practice to make sure everyone was on the same page and focused on playing hockey the Liberty way.
"Our whole idea is to continue to improve on where we were last weekend," he said. "How can we continue to work on our team in the offensive, neutral, and the D Zone?"
Sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch, who transferred in from NCAA Division III St. Mary's (Minn.) University this summer, is the projected starter in net for the Flames on Friday night.
"Having a midnight start is definitely going to be new to all of us incoming guys," Kausch said. "That will be my first one, so it should be really exciting. My family's flying into town on Thursday from Duluth, Minnesota, so it will be fun to have them here, and another opportunity for us to play here in front of a home crowd. It will be good to embrace it."
He said he thrives in pressure situations in the blue ice, though he has yet to be tested after midnight.
"I think that's a big reason why I love my position so much," Kausch said. "You're either the hero or the villain. In moments playing in front of family and friends and everybody in the community, you want to be a hero, so it's an exciting to be able to cherish this opportunity and get ready for Friday. We'll treat that game like it's at nationals and we'll come prepared and ready to battle."
Kausch said it will be critical for the Flames to keep penalties to a minimum and capitalize on their scoring chances.
"Our strength is playing 5-on-5 with our speed, so trying to utilize that as much as possible," he said. "It's important to just stay disciplined. Coming off a big weekend, it can be easy to kind of stray away and lose your focus. (Outscoring Pitt) 17-0, our morale is high, but we've got to kind keep that even keel, understanding that we have a job in front of us this weekend and then business will be done."
Scouting Preview for Games 5-6: No. 22 Delaware (4-0) at No. 5 Liberty (3-1), Friday at 11:59 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the LaHaye Ice Center. Saturday's rematch will be Tropical Night and both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
All-time series: Liberty leads 35-19-2 after splitting its series at Delaware's Olympic-sized ice at Fred Rust Arena last Oct. 27-28, snapping a 21-game winning streak against the Blue Hens. Sophomore Nick Pomerleau, tied for first in scoring with a team-high six assists, will be relied on more on a depleted defensive corps.Liberty Scouting Report: The Flames will be shorthanded in their defensive corps without junior defensemen Reid Bogenholm, Kevin Bite, and possibly Laz Kaebel.
"We are battling some injuries right now (but) we're going to be in a good spot," Handy said. "We're going to have to have other guys step up. That is the exciting part."
The Flames have outscored opponents 27-5 this season, but gave up four of those five goals in their one loss, 4-3 to Florida Gulf Coast University the last time they were in the LIC.
Offensively, Liberty has 12 players with four or more points, led by freshmen forwards Kal Essenmacher (4 goals, 2 assists) — who netted a hat trick in the Flames' first-game win at Pittsburgh — and Michael DeBrito (2G, 4A) as well as sophomore defenseman Nick Pomerleau (6A).
Junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster (3G, 2A) is tied for fourth in scoring along with two more freshmen forwards, Mac Ratzlaff (3G, 2A) and Liam Cox-Smith (2G, 3A) as well as sophomore forward Mason Smith (2G, 3A). After reuniting on the top line and contributing four of Liberty's 11 goals in the second game against the Panthers, senior forwards and alternate captains Jacob Kalandyk (4G) and Truett Olson (1G, 3A) and graduate forward Jackson Vercellono (2G, 2A) are tied for eighth in the scoring ranks along with Kaebel (1G, 3A) and freshman forward Hayden DeMars (4A).
Between the pipes, Liberty has rotated Nick Bernstein (1-1, 2.00 goals-against average, 94.5 save percentage, 1 shutout), a junior transfer from NCAA Division III Chatham (Pa.) University, and Kausch (2-0, 0.50 GAA, 98.1 SP, 1 SO).
Delaware Scouting Report: The Blue Hens, who have outscored opponents by a 25-2 margin in the early season including a 13-1, 4-0 sweep of Concordia-Ann Arbor (Mich.) University last weekend in Newark, Del., feature balanced scoring from forwards Tanner Mahoney and Ryan Rodrigues (2 goals, 5 assists each) as well as Dominique Guido (4G, 2A) and Justin Guelph (2G, 4A).
In goal, Delaware has platooned Jacob Snellenburg (1-0, 0.00 GAA, 100.0 save percentage, 1 SO) and Timothy Briley (1-0, 1.00 GAA, 93.3 SP).
Coaches: Kirk Handy is in his 25th season as head coach for the Flames, having guided them to eight consecutive ACHA DI National Championship tournament appearances and 16 in 18 seasons while accumulating a career record of 543-222-33. Todd Mittelmeier was promoted to Delaware's head coach in the middle of the 2018-19 season and has compiled a 93-70-6 record behind the bench.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Annie Cory/Liberty Broadcast Communications Apprentice
