Flames can’t corral stray Bobcats who stage sweep in the LIC

Saturday, November 9

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Ohio University

Junior defenseman Nicholas Pomerleau looks to clear the puck out of Liberty's zone in Saturday's rematch with Ohio at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Brooke McDuffee)

Flames can’t corral stray Bobcats who stage sweep in the LIC

11/9/2024 11:31:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Liberty allowed Ohio to even the all-time series record between the independent rivals at 22 with back-to-back wins on its home ice.

Gallery: (11-9-2024) DI mens hockey vs. Ohio Game 2

Ohio University's No. 4-ranked men's hockey team made itself right at home inside the LaHaye Ice Center (LIC) Saturday night, completing a sweep of Liberty University's No. 6-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team with a 5-3 victory in front of a College For A Weekend (CFAW) crowd.

"Ohio was the better team this weekend," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "There's a lot of areas that we've got to improve. We gave up way too many odd-man rushes tonight. They seemed to be coming through the neutral zone without a lot of resistance."

Liberty killed off a penalty early in the first period before Ohio got on the scoreboard at the 14:30 mark when Jack Glen's deftly redirected Colin Felton's shot from the top of the right circle past Flames junior goalie Nicholas Bernstein.

"When you don't get that first goal, you're on your heels," Handy said. "It's been a while since we've scored the first goal."

Then, with the Bobcats back on the power play, they doubled their advantage to 2-0 with 8:07 left in the first period when Noah Holt, who gave Bernstein a stick to the facemask, jammed the rebound of Lucas Doran's shot from the high slot past Bernstein from deep in the left crease for Ohio's only power-play goal in five chances.

Ohio was assessed a roughing penalty on the ensuing scrum around the cage, and Liberty got one goal back with the extra man on the ice when junior defenseman Laz Kaebel's rocket of a wrist shot from inside the top of the right circle into the upper netting past former Flames goalie Scott Bird, trimming the deficit to 2-1 with 7:06 to play in the period.

The Bobcats outshot Liberty 24-10 in the first period before the Flames turned the tables on Ohio by outshooting it 26-15 in the second and third periods combined.

Liberty failed to capitalize on a power play early in the second and Ohio's Mathieu Ovaert converted on the other end, cutting into the slot with a toe drag move and finishing with a backhand, stretching the lead to 3-1 at the 14:40 mark.

"We allowed them to have too much speed coming into our zone," Handy said. "We've got to be aware when their top guys are out there. We gave them a little too much time and space and they found the back of the net."

With 7:23 to go in the second, Flames freshman forward Liam Cox-Smith skated onto a loose puck left by sophomore forward Mason Smith in the right circle and lifted a beautiful backhand shot past an unsuspecting Bird into the top-right corner of his cage, cutting Ohio's lead to 3-2.

Looking for the equalizer early in the third period, Liberty instead allowed Ohio to pad its lead with an insurance goal on a quick counterattack with 19:29 remaining in regulation when leading scorer Luc Reeve took a tape-to-tape stretch pass from Luke Aldridge and beat Bernstein with a breakaway backhander inside the right post.

The Bobcats buried another backbreaker on a quick fast-break finish at the 14:09 mark when Aldridge received feeds from Reeve and Drake Albers and roofed a point-blank wrist shot over the shoulder of Bernstein.

Freshman forward Tucker Shields had a few close chances throughout the third period, but couldn't cash in. Finally, senior forward and alternate captain Jacob Kalandyk, playing in his 101st career game, netted a consolation goal — his first in 10 games — by launching a missile from the top of the left circle that flew past Bird top shelf to cap the scoring with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.

"We didn't give up down 5-2," Handy said. "The last seven minutes, I challenged the guys to win the rest of the period. Let's make the 60 minutes count. Scoring that goal at the end is huge, huge for Kaly, great to get him on the scoreboard again. It has been a while, so it's great to get him going again. Guys battled right up to the final whistle."

He said that was a good sign of the Flames' resilience, though the refining process isn't going to come easily as they must continually forged by fire.

"At the end of the day, it's about growing," Handy said. "It's a young group and there are a bunch of lessons to learn and we're going to learn them. We have the willingness to learn them."

"The effort's there with our guys for the most part," he added. "It's the execution. Some of our goal scorers have been struggling, and we need them to find the back of the net. We're a better team when they're scoring. Power play's been struggling, but we scored again tonight on the power play, so there's a light at the end of the tunnel with those two aspects of the game."

Liberty is off next weekend before embarking on its fourth road trip of the semester with three games at Maryville University — against the host Saints on Nov. 21, Minot State on Nov. 22, and Arizona State on Nov. 23.

"We're going to try to manage the next week and a bit well," Handy said. "We have a lot of banged-up bodies. For us, it's how can we be smart about it. How can we make good decisions for the lineup going into the next trip before Thanksgiving. We've got to heal up and mentally reset. We're still in a great spot and we're going to be in a great start at the end of the year."

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