DI Flames battle Bulldogs to bitter end in quarterfinal setback in St. Louis

Truett-Olson-crushed — Flames senior forward Truett Olson is sandwiched by two of the four Bulldogs as the puck pops free while skating down the high slot.

Sunday's ACHA Division I National Championship quarterfinal showdown between Liberty University's No. 7-seeded ACHA Division I men's hockey team and No. 2 Adrian College was an amped-up, high-octane battle for 60 minutes at the Centene Community Ice Center, the practice facility for the NHL's St. Louis Blues in Maryland Heights, Mo.

It turned out to be a special teams battle with both teams converting on two of their three power-play opportunities in a 4-2 dogfight won by the Bulldogs (34-5-1), who are contending for their third national championship after last winning in 2021 in another suburb of St. Louis.

"We battled right to the end," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said after Liberty was outshot by a 41-33 margin for the game, but outshot Adrian, 13-11, in the final 20 minutes. "Both teams came motivated and ready to go. We had lots of confidence coming in. We just had to have more urgency in our game and I thought we had it in the third period."

For Liberty (21-10-1), its postseason run ends in the quarterfinals near St. Louis for the second time in three years after advancing to two semifinals in the previous three national tournaments. It was especially disappointing knowing it was the last collegiate games for nine Flames seniors: eight forwards — head captain Matt Bartel, alternate captains Nate Albers, Brett Gammer, and DJ Schwenke, Kris Bladen, Joe Clark, Jason Foltz, and Kam Ottenbreit — and graduate goalie Hunter Virostek.

"I was proud of our guys," Handy said. "We knew it was going to be a tight game like that. The game kind of went the way we thought. It's a tough reflection moment. You think about the season and the seniors and the relationships and the friendships and the legacy that those guys left. It's tough. It's not easy at all."

The Flames and Bulldogs exhibited supernatural energy levels from the opening faceoff, displaying their brands of speed and physicality that have made them two of the top teams in the ACHA over the past seven seasons. Both teams attacked the ice and countered one another with furiously fast skating, sharp cutting skills, precise stick handling, and relentless body checking against the boards, especially in the early going.

"We know we can battle with them," Liberty sophomore defenseman Laz Kaebel said. "Their game plan was to come out and bury our (defensemen) and they did that pretty well. We tried to push back and we did a pretty good job of that. (But) they have a great power play and a great game plan going into the game today and they executed it well."

Virostek made a series of clutch saves early to keep Adrian's vaunted attack from finding the net before a defensive lapse opened the door for the Bulldogs to get on the scoreboard first by capitalizing on a turnover near the red line.

Adrian's Matteo DeGuilio started a fast break by sliding the loose puck down the center of the slot. Where Virostek came out to try to intercept it, but Caleb Minns beat him to it and drew Virostek wide to his left before Cameron Armstrong slammed home the rebound into an open net for a 1-0 lead at the 11:34 mark.

The Bulldogs continued to hound the Liberty net in the second period, doubling their lead 15 seconds into a power-play opportunity on a wraparound goal by Sebastian Smith off assists from Dylan Gajewski and Sheldon Nolan around the back of the cage for a 2-0 edge with 11:29 left in the stanza.

Virostek kept the Flames in the contest with five clutch saves in the first 10 minutes of the third period, including two spectacular ones back-to-back on an odd-man rush and putback chance.

"He's the best and he's always got three good periods in him, so we're always thankful for that," Kaebel said.

The fifth-year starting goalie, who has been an anchor in the Flames' cage, often saves his best performances for the biggest stages, as in last season's semifinal showdown with eventual champion Minot State, when he stood on his head, making 61 saves in a 3-2 overtime setback.

"He's unbelievable," Handy said. "He did everything he could to keep us in that game. He played fantastic tonight. I think he's the best goalie in the country. He's awesome. He'll go play pro hockey now."

The Flames finally delivered on a power play with 6:22 remaining in regulation when sophomore forward Sam Feamster deflected junior forward Jacob Kalandyk's shot from the top of the right circle past Adrian goalie Noah DeCottignes (31 saves).

"Sam's a leader on our team," Handy said. "He's a guy who works hard and his engine's always moving."

But the Bulldogs responded with a second power-play goal less than two minutes later when Gavin Watt received assists from Spaedt and Cyrus Toth and unleashed a slapshot from the top of the left circle over Virostek's blocker into the upper netting for an insurance goal with 4:43 to go.

The Flames weren't finished quite yet, however, as Feamster struck again off another feed from Kalandyk with 2:57 to play. Gambling to get the equalizer, Handy pulled Virostek for the final 1:45 and the Bulldogs bit back on Gajewski's empty-net shot from just beyond the blue line with 51 seconds to play.

"It kind of summed up our whole season, always battling back until the end, so I was really proud of our guys for doing that," Kaebel said of the late comeback bid. "We lose a lot of guys, but Sam coming back should be huge. He's got great leadership skills and he's going to be a forward that we really depend on next year."

Kaebel only played 16 of 30 regular-season games due to injury and suspension but was glad to be able to contribute for a second year in a row at nationals.

"We got hit with the injury bug pretty early on this year, but we had a lot of guys step up and play really good roles and I'm really proud of our guys for that," Kaebel said. "Our seniors really stepped up this year, I just love those guys and am just sad to see them go. Hunter is one of my best friends and one of the best goalies in the league, if not the best goalie in the league. I'm excited for him to see where he'll go next. He's got a professional future ahead of him and we're excited to see it."

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

Gallery: (3-10-2024) DI men's hockey quarterfinals vs. Adrian

DI Flames battle Bulldogs to bitter end in quarterfinal setback in St. Louis

Players Mentioned

Nate Albers

Jason Foltz

Brett Gammer

Jacob Kalandyk

Kam Ottenbreit

Hunter Virostek

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