No. 7 Flames tame No. 5 Bobcats, 4-3, despite being outshot in road series opener

Friday, February 9

Athens, OH

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Ohio University

Freshman forward Ryan Finch, who scored the Flames' second goal on Friday night, controls the puck against Ohio in their Nov. 11 battle at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Brooke McDuffee)

No. 7 Flames tame No. 5 Bobcats, 4-3, despite being outshot in road series opener

2/9/2024 11:41:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Liberty broke open four ties against Ohio to win for the third consecutive meeting, with three more on tap to end the spring schedule.

In a showdown between two teams that lost in last season's National Championship semifinals near Boston, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team — which slipped two spots to No. 7 in this week's national rankings — edged No. 5 Ohio University, 4-3, in a back-and-forth duel on Friday night at Bird Arena in Athens, Ohio.

"It was a battle tonight," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said, noting that Liberty only had one power play opportunity and killed off two of the Bobcats' three chances. "Both teams played hard. These are the types of games we're going to have at nationals. There's not going to be a lot of penalties called. They're going to be great hockey games and I was proud of our guys. We stuck with it. It wasn't pretty. We've got some things to clean up for (Saturday's rematch), and we've got to be ready. We know that is a big game for us."

Liberty opened an early 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by sophomore forward Mason Smith at the 16:05 mark of the first period.

"It was a beautiful shot by Mason, who scored up high on a great shot," Handy said. "He has been playing defense for us lately, and I was proud of way he played (on offense) tonight."

Just over two minutes later, the Bobcats (23-9-3) struck back with the first of three equalizers when Hollander Thompson scored off an assist from leading scorer Luc Reeve, tying it at 1.

Flames freshman Ryan Finch put the Flames back on top with another unassisted goal just 17 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, lifting Liberty to a 2-1 lead with 13:25 left in the first period.

"He broke in and took a shot and it went stick side about a foot and a half off the ice," Handy said.

However, Reeve answered by capitalizing on a power play 7:27 before the first intermission, tying the game at 2.

Flames sophomore defenseman Reid Bogenholm netted the Flames' third go-ahead goal with 16:40 left in the second period after receiving feeds from senior forward Kris Bladen and junior forward Aleksandr Charin and skating around the back of the net.

The Bobcats pounced on the tying goal once again seven and a half minutes later when Barron Stibbe finished feeds from Andrew Sacca and Drew Gardner before Flames graduate forward Jackson Vercellono cashed in with the game winner 1:14 after that, off a persistent pass from sophomore defenseman Nick Pomerleau.

"That was a nice play by Nick, who got hit, and got up again and was able to get the puck back and Jackson went to the net and was able to get the goal in front," Handy said.

Liberty was outshot by Ohio, 39-28, on the night and graduate goalie Hunter Virostek made 37 saves in the win. The Flames' penalty kill came up big down the stretch after their third penalty of the game in the third period.

"(Senior forwards) Matt Bartell and Brett Gammer and DJ Schwenke and (junior defenseman Nate) Cox and (sophomore defenseman) Laz (Kaebel) were out there, and they were great on that last PK at the end of the game," Handy said, noting that the Bobcats pulled their goalie, Justin Damon, in the final minute but were unable to score a fourth equalizer with the man advantage.

Liberty, which swept Ohio at the LaHaye Ice Center on Nov. 11-12, will look to repeat the feat when the teams meet again at Byrd Arena on Saturday, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m.

"These games down the stretch are big ones as we suit up for the national tournament," Handy said.

Ohio and Liberty will conclude their regular seasons with a rare home-and-home series on Feb. 22 in Athens and Feb. 24 in Lynchburg.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer