DII Flames skate back onto winning track over three-game Northeast road trip

Friday, November 22

Boston, MA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Northeastern University

Senior forward Roman Lamoureux controls the puck along the boards against Northeastern in a Nov. 1 game at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Emily Cuthrell)

DII Flames skate back onto winning track over three-game Northeast road trip

11/25/2024 3:59:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey

Liberty, which slipped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Southeast Region rankings after splitting a home series against RPI last weekend, defeated Northeastern, Bentley, and the Redhawks in Sunday's rematch on the road.

Roman Lamoureux breakaway — Lamoureux returned from injury and scored the equalizer vs. Northeastern, assisted a goal vs. Bentley, and tallied the first and last vs. RPI.

Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team, ranked No. 2 behind Florida Gulf Coast University in the Southeast Region, went into the Thanksgiving Break with a successful three-game road sweep in New England, ending a stretch of four losses in its previous five games.

The Flames (12-6-2) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to start the third period to defeat Northeastern University 4-3 in overtime Friday at Mathews Arena in Boston before beating Bentley University 3-1 on Saturday in nearby Marlboro, Mass., and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) 5-3 on Sunday in Troy, N.Y.

The Flames split a series with Northeastern at the LaHaye Ice Center (LIC) on Nov. 1-2, winning the opener 5-1 before dropping Game 2, 2-0. Central Region No. 1-ranked Lindenwood swept Liberty by 4-2 and 5-4 scores on Nov. 8-9 at the Centene Community Ice Center — site of the ACHA National Championships in Maryland Heights, Mo. Liberty then split a home series with RPI on Nov. 15-16, winning the opener 2-1 and dropping the rematch 1-0.

Mark Padgett Liberty vs. Northeastern — Flames junior forward Mark Padgett netted the first goal at Northeastern.

In Friday's first game against the Huskies, Mark Padgett started the scoring midway through the first period off assists from fellow junior forward Thomas Kayner and sophomore defenseman Macguire Graham.

Northeastern capitalized on a power play at the end of the period to seize a 2-1 lead early in the second before Liberty struck back with the equalizer by Roman Lamoureux off assists from fellow senior forward Corey Owens and junior forward Antonio Vidal with 16:14 to play in the third period. The Flames reclaimed a 3-2 lead on a goal by Owens assisted by graduate forward Cooper Neal and freshman forward Aiden Hannegan at the 10:32 mark before the Huskies retied it with 1:47 remaining in regulation.

Then, 1:39 into the five-minute, 3-on-3, sudden-death overtime, Graham netted the game winner for Liberty off assists from Vidal and junior forward Josh Martin.

Martin started the scoring against Bentley with 32 seconds left in the second period, finishing feeds from Lamoureux and Vidal, before Cooper Connell tied it just 2:12 into the second period, and Flames senior forward Jared Matley answered with the game-winning and insurance scores assisted by Kayner at the 15:24 mark and with 10:38 to go, the last on a power play.

Bentley outshot Liberty 41-37, and sophomore goalie Christian Sehlke made 40 saves.

Similar to Friday, the Flames overcame a 2-1 deficit against RPI, with junior defenseman Connor Diem tying it up just 1:20 into the second period, finishing feeds from Matley and senior forward Luke Tucker, before Matley gave them their first lead 1:21 later off an assist from senior forward Josh Harrell.

The host Redhawks responded by tying the contest with 3:10 remaining in the period before Kayner put Liberty ahead to stay on a power play 3:04 into the third, assisted by Neal and Graham.

Lamoureux, who had started the Flames' scoring at the 5:41 mark of the first period off assists from Graham and sophomore defenseman Cade Pawluk, capped it with an insurance goal 1:44 later set up by Martin and Diem.

Liberty will return to action in the LIC Dec. 6-7 in a series against Ohio University, ranked No. 3 in the Southeast Region.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer