DI Flames hoping to catch the Spirit of St. Louis, prep for nationals at Maryville Showcase

Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team, which moved up three spots to No. 7 in this week's national computer rankings, flew to St. Louis on Wednesday for this weekend's Maryville University Showcase in Chesterfield, Mo.

The Flames will challenge the No. 8 Saints on their home ice on Thursday, top-ranked Minot State on Friday, and No. 16 Arizona on Saturday. Head Coach Kirk Handy is hopeful the round-robin event will provide a sneak preview for the ACHA DI National Championships to be played in Maryland Heights, Mo., another suburb of St. Louis, in mid-March.

"We're excited about it," Handy said. "We will have an opportunity to play three teams that we'll see at the national tournament and three of the top programs in the country, so it gives us a good gauge to see where we're at. It is an important time of the year, and it will be a valuable experience to play three games in three days in a short period of time."

Coming off being swept at home by No. 3 Ohio on Nov. 8-9 and dropping back-to-back shootouts at No. 6 Niagara, these will be Liberty's last three games before a week-long Thanksgiving Break. A Dec. 6-7 series against Drexel University, starting with the season's second of three Midnight Mayhem matchups, will conclude the Flames' fall schedule.

"It will be huge for us, and a great opportunity for our guys to go out and compete," Handy said. "These are the games you want to play in against the top programs in the country. They should be great games and we expect to see a playoff-style atmosphere."

Scouting Preview, Games 17-19: No. 7 Liberty (9-5-2) at No. 8 Maryville University (10-5-2), Nov. 21 (9:15 p.m. EST); No. 10 Liberty vs. No. 1 Minot State (13-3-1), Nov. 22 (4:30 p.m. EST); and No. 10 Liberty vs. No. 16 Arizona (5-6), Nov. 23 (1:30 p.m. EST). All games will be played at the Maryville University Hockey Center and be streamed live on Maryville's YouTube Channel.

All-time series: The Flames have split the three previous series with Maryville, including last month's matchups at the LaHaye Ice Center, and hold a 4-3 lead, starting with a 9-0 rout at Maryville in the 2021 ACHA DI National Championships opener. Minot State holds a commanding 20-3 advantage over Liberty, winning 17 of the past 18 meetings, including all four to start the 2023-24 season, two at the LIC and two at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D. The Flames are 11-2-1 against Arizona, but haven't met since Oct. 24-25, 2014, when they completed a sweep of the Wildcats at the Tucson Convention Center by tying the game in the final second of regulation and winning in overtime.

Liberty Scouting Report: A weekend off helped the Flames heal up myriad injuries, though they still may be a shorthanded for this weekend's showcase.

"Over the past week, we were just getting guys as healthy as we can," Handy said. "In practices, we have been trying to get our lines humming. Having guys knowing and executing our systems is huge for us now."

The Flames feature eight players with 10 or more points, led by junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster (6 goals, including 2 on the power play, 2 shorthanded, and 1 game-winner, 9 assists), junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (14A), and graduate forward Jackson Vercellono (7G, 6A).

Guarding the cage, Liberty has leaned on sophomore Konrad Kausch (5-2, 1.58 goals-against average, 95.2 save percentage, 3 shutouts) and junior Nicholas Bernstein (4-3, 2.75 GAA, 92.0 SP, 1 SO).

Maryville Scouting Report: The Saints are sparked offensively by Maxwell Wagener (12G, including 4 game-winning goals, 12A) with supplemental scoring from defenseman Colt Corpse (3G, 8A), forward Campbell McLean (6G, 3A), Lucas Adams (3G, 6A), and Jackson Zloty (1G, 8A).

Between the pipes, Maryville has rotated three goalies, with Lucas Bain (6-2, 2.50 GAA, 90.7 SP, 1 SO) logging the most minutes. He is backed up by Parker Sawka (2-2-1, 3.79 GAA, 85.8 SP) and Kyle McNair (2-0, 1.00 GAA, 90.5 SP, 1 SO).

Minot State Scouting Report: The Beavers have gotten game-winning goals from 11 different players this season, including two by Jay Buchholz (6G, 12A), who is tied for Minot's scoring lead with Colby Joseph (11G, 7A), and Reid Arnold (8G, 2A), who ranks fifth behind fellow forwards Christian Kadolph (4G, 11A) and Joey Moffatt (8G, 5A).

In goal, the Beavers count on Jake Anthony (6-1-1, 1.78 GAA, 92.5 SP, 1 SO) with backup support from Will Dyke (5-0, 1.80 GAA, 92.0 SP).

Arizona Scouting Report: The Wildcats feature three players with 10 points or more in forwards Justin Hughes (6G, 5A) and Dylan Walker (3G, 7A) and defenseman Nicholas Chiocca (5G, 6A). In net, Arizona has relied on Hadyn Gould (4-3, 2.58 GAA, 91.7 SP, 1 SO) with backup from Adam Stevenson (1-1, 3.50 GAA, 88.1 SP) and TJ Demeulenaere (0-2, 4.00 GAA, 90.1 SP).

Coaches: Handy is in his 25th season as head coach for the Flames, with a career record of 547-226-35. Chad Berman is in his 10th season as head coach at Arizona and sports a record of 164-124-17. John Hogan is Maryville's founding head coach after starting the program at the DII level in 2018-19 and moving up to DI for the past four seasons, and has posted a combined 114-79-11 mark. Wyatt Waselenchuk, Minot State's first ACHA Division I Player of the Year in 2013 after leading the Beavers to their first national championship, is 113-18-4 in his fourth season at the helm after serving as an assistant coach on their second Murdoch Cup-winning team in 2019 and guiding Minot to its third crown in 2023.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media

DI Flames hoping to catch the Spirit of St. Louis, prep for nationals at Maryville Showcase

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Players Mentioned

Nicholas Bernstein

Konrad Kausch

Jackson Vercellono