Stellar goaltending by Keith, Beauchamp’s hat trick help Lady Flames cap regular season with sweep of Indiana Tech

Thursday, February 15

Lynchburg, Va.

9:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Indiana Tech

Junior forward Zosia Adamek fires a shot on a fast break in Friday afternoon's rematch at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Stellar goaltending by Keith, Beauchamp’s hat trick help Lady Flames cap regular season with sweep of Indiana Tech

2/16/2024 11:09:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey

Second-ranked Liberty gained momentum for the postseason, including next weekend's WMCH Championships at the LIC, with 2-0 and 4-1 wins over the No. 9 Warriors

Sophomore goalie Alex Keith posted her fifth shutout of the season and Liberty University's No. 2-ranked ACHA Division I women's hockey team ended regular-season play with a sweep of No. 9 Indiana Tech, winning 2-0 Thursday night and 4-1 Friday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"Alex played well all weekend. She has been playing really good hockey, so it's been exciting to watch her excel here," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said after she made 39 saves between the two games, allowing just one goal. "Even that goal (scored Friday), was on a power play and it was a rebound."

"She's been doing great, especially with (senior) Amanda (Storey) down and having her as our only goalie now," senior defenseman Peyton Carle said. "She's proven that she deserves to be out there and play every single game and she's been great."

Liberty (19-4-2) outshot ITU (18-10-1) by a 39-23 margin on Thursday night and 35-18 on Friday afternoon, and the Lady Flames scored three of their six goals in the two games with a player advantage.

"Our discipline was good all weekend and we made them pay," Lowes said, noting Liberty committed very few penalties and converted 1 out of 4 power play opportunities on Thursday and both chances in Friday's rematch. "Alex stopped a lot of odd-man rushes this weekend, less today, so that was one thing I was happy about, that our defensemen cleaned up a bit. I thought our breakout looked clean, our forecheck looked dangerous, and special teams were good again."

Sophomore forward Brookelyn Beauchamp netted Liberty's first three goals on Friday off tips of shots from the high slot, the first and third by senior forward Carly Glover on power plays — with 1:06 left in the first period and 5:55 to go in the second — and second by graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch.

"It was a big weekend for the line of Beauchamp, (senior Priscilla) Ziefle, and (junior) Brielle Fussy, which had all four goals this weekend and one (Thursday), so five of our six came from that one line," Lowes said. "Brielle had a good weekend (and) we had a lot of girls that shined today. (Beauchamp has) gotten a lot better (at deflections) since she's been playing on the power play."

Fussy capitalized on an insurance goal in the final 4:41, finishing feeds from Ziefle and junior defenseman Sammy Peebles, who helped shut the Warriors down offensively.

"Our defense played really well," Carle said. "It was a hard team to play against physically, but we all played our game, we stayed man-to-man, which is what we do best, and we didn't let them come in. We have a good group of six right now. We're all super bonded and we all trust each other. We're all super confident and we all know how to win."

In Thursday night's opener, Ziefle opened the scoring with a point-blank finish near the left post off a pass out of the right corner from Beauchamp with 17:44 to play in the second period. Just under three minutes later, Stretch capitalized on a power play with a shot from the blue line down the slot that whizzed past Adamek and ITU goalie Isabel Varner for the final score.

Lowes said the second consecutive CCWHA opponent prepared the Lady Flames well for next Thursday's through Saturday's WMCH Championships, which Liberty will host for the first time at the LIC.

"It was a very good weekend, and for us to finish with two really tough (opponents), Adrian and Indiana Tech, was a really good setup for us to be tested, and for us to have some things to work on," Lowes said. "Defensively, our defensemen had a better game than we did (Thursday night)."

He hopes to have Storey, who has been extremely steady in goal for the Lady Flames for the past four seasons, back from injury by next weekend, or certainly by nationals.
"Wait and see," Lowes said. "We're not going to push it, but obviously, we would love to have her for the playoffs."

The Lady Flames won the first three WMCH conference tournaments before being dethroned by Midland (Neb.) last season at the Centene Community Ice Center in St. Louis, where they will try to extend their title run to six at the March 13-17 ACHA DI National Championships.

"Every single game is going to be hard," Carle said. "Every team is constantly getting better and better and giving us a huge challenge, but I know we're prepared. Our coaches and trainers have been helping us and I think we're going to be ready to go and play next weekend."

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

Gallery: (2-16-2024) DI women's hockey vs. ITU