DIII men end regular season with home sweep of Appalachian State, set to play High Point in Friday’s ACCHL opener

Saturday, February 17

Lynchburg, VA

10:15 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Appalachian State University

Flames forward Michael Williams scored on Senior Night during an 8-2 win over Appalachian State at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Jacob Summersgill)

DIII men end regular season with home sweep of Appalachian State, set to play High Point in Friday’s ACCHL opener

2/28/2024 1:08:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey

The Flames are ranked sixth in AAU Division II and have already clinched a bid to the March 7-12 national championships in West Chester, Pa.

Seeded fourth in this weekend's ACCHL M2A Tournament at the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Fairgrounds Annex, Liberty University's AAU Division II men's hockey team, which formerly competed in ACHA Division III, will open championship play on Friday at 9 p.m. against No. 5-seeded High Point.

The Flames split a regular-season home series against the Panthers on Feb. 3-4, losing the opener 6-4 before winning the rematch 3-2 at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"We came back with the win after we were losing going into the third, so the guys responded well, big-time," Liberty first-year Head Coach Josh Wagner said.

They also split with their ACCHL nemesis, Coastal Carolina (8-9-1), on Feb. 9-10 in Conway, S.C., winning the first game, 5-4, and losing the rematch, 4-3.

"It was good to get perspective in our minds for nationals, as we will probably see them again at our conference tournament," Wagner said. "We are very confident, very excited to get started now. We have a great team, a great lineup, and have a great chance."

With a win over High Point, the Flames (13-6) would advance to Saturday's 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. semifinals possibly against top-seeded Rowan or the No. 2 seeded Chanticleers with the championship game set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Flames, ranked sixth nationally in AAU Division II behind top-ranked Florida Atlantic University (18-4-1), No. 2 Florida (14-7), No. 3 Tennessee (17-8), No. 4 High Point (23-5), and No. 5 Bishops (Quebec, 7-6-1), concluded regular-season play with an 8-2 and 5-3 sweep of Appalachian State (7-8) last weekend at the LIC.

"We closed out super well," Wagner said. "Guys played hard, and it was a really good weekend on Senior Night. Appalachian State played well. They're a good team. We just played better. We had a little breakdown in the first game but came back, and it was a good way to finish off the season and have some confidence going into our postseason."

In the opener, the Flames outshot the Mountaineers by a 72-22 margin and answered an early goal by ASU with four consecutive goals, including two on the power play. Senior forward Michael Williams netted the equalizer with a man advantage and the go-ahead goal at even strength before freshman center AJ Beugen scored the game winner on a power play with 1:43 left in the first period.

Junior forward Kelly Stroik extended Liberty's lead to 4-1 early in the second period before the Flames ended the game with four unanswered goals by junior center Ethan Dunn, sophomore defenseman Conner Diem, sophomore forward Michael Kornek, and senior forward Trevor Granzow. Freshman Hunter Chubb earned the victory in net.

In the rematch, Liberty outshot the Mountaineers 61-30, but trailed 3-1 with 6:01 left in the first period before responding with back-to-back goals by Granzow to tie it at 3 in the second period and two more by Beugen in the third to pull ahead. Senior Kyle Wesbury got the win in goal.

The Flames will be back in Lynchburg, Va., for three days before traveling to the AAU National Championships in West Chester, Pa., from March 7-12.

By Ted Allen/ Staff Writer