DII Flames overcome 3-1 deficit with final three goals against Providence

Monday, March 11

St. Louis, MO

12:45 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Providence

Flames forward Roman Lamoureux skates past a Providence player during Monday's 4-3 victory. (Photo by Megan Davis)

DII Flames overcome 3-1 deficit with final three goals against Providence

3/11/2024 6:18:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey

Liberty, ranked third in the nation, averted another opening-day loss in pool play like the one that eliminated it last year, setting up Tuesday's battle against Army and Wednesday's duel with No. 2-ranked Lindenwood.

Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team scored three unanswered goals in the third period to overcome a 3-1 deficit and emerge with a 4-3 triumph in Monday afternoon's National Championships opener against the University of Providence (Montana).

Seeded second in its pool and ranked third in the nation, the Flames (20-9-1) kept their hopes of winning their pool and advancing to Thursday's semifinals alive and well with the dramatic comeback win in the Centene Community Ice Center's USA Arena in Maryland Heights, Mo.

"It was huge," junior forward Luke Tucker said. "You never want to lose the first game. We did that last year and it kind of went downhill for us."

Puck-drop-Josh-Harrell — Senior forward and head captain Josh Harrell takes a faceoff against Providence.

Liberty outshot the Argos (17-7) by a 27-7 margin in the first period, but still trailed 2-1 going into the second. The Flames wound up with a whopping 70-25 shot advantage, including a 29-7 edge in the third period.

"They are a very opportunistic team," Liberty Assistant Coach Christian Garland said of the Argos. "You give them a couple good looks and they're going to bury it. Hats off to their goalie (Paul Jarvis, who made 66 saves). He had an unbelievable performance. But we prayed for this adversity, and we overcame it today, so it felt good."

For Garland, the game brought back memories of last year's 3-2 first-game loss to Iowa, the fourth seed that wound up winning Liberty's pool.

"After the way we went out against Iowa last year, it was a game very similar to this game where we felt we controlled most of the play," Garland said. "We felt leaving that game that that was the first real adversity we had faced all year, and we left the tournament praying honestly for more adversity throughout this season to be prepared for a moment like this, and that was exactly what we got."

After freshman forward Jacob Padgett scored unassisted to tie the game at 1 midway through the first period, the Flames were held scoreless over the next 37 minutes, 26 seconds before scoring three times in a span of less than 10 minutes in the third period on goals by junior forward Luke Tucker assisted by sophomore forward Antonio Vidal at the 14:15 mark; junior forward Jared Matley set up by sophomore defenseman Logan Johnson with 8:20 to play; and freshman forward Aaron Higgins off feeds from sophomore forward Thomas Kayner and senior defenseman Daniel Hauke with 5:01 remaining in regulation.

"Our third and fourth lines had all four of our goals today," Garland said. "We're pretty well spread out, but now we're finally healthy and we're a team that rolls four lines. We're fighting from a position of strength with how deep we are up front."

Logan-Starkey-DII-Mens-hockey — Sophomore defenseman Logan Starkey controls the puck. (Photo by Megan Davis)

Defensively, the Flames were successful in killing off both of Providence's power-play opportunities.

"Our penalty kill was phenomenal today," Garland said. "(Junior forward) Josh Harrell and (sophomore center) Josh Martin had awesome play on the PK."

Junior goalie Lane Skon overcame a rough start to make 24 saves and improve to 16-8-1 on the year.

Garland said after six seasons working with Flames Head Coach Ben Hughes, the team has learned to weather the storms that come their way and dig deep to find the faith to emerge victorious.

"We're going to have adversity and we're going to welcome it because we've welcomed it all year," he said. "We controlled possession, we controlled O-zone time and we stuck with it. The goals we got in the third period were a byproduct of the systems we were executing and that we've executed all year. We knew eventually it would click and it did. It felt good to come away with one. Now it's full steam ahead. We've already faced some adversity and we're just going to build off of it and keep going. We're settled in now."

Liberty will challenge Army (18-4-3) in Tuesday's second round of pool play set for 1 p.m. EST in Centene's USA Arena.

"We're really looking forward to playing and are not going to overlook Army," Garland said. "They're a great team having a great year, so we know that they're going to be super hard-working, super structured, very hard to play against. It will be a tight game again, for sure."

"Once you get to nationals, everyone's good," Tucker added. "They're some big boys so we're ready for a rumble."

He said the Flames are fully focused on the mission ahead as they seek to survive and advance out of their pool, which includes No. 2-ranked Lindenwood, which they will face on the Lions' home ice on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. EST.

"Everyone knows what we're here to do," Tucker said. "We've been ramping up since we took a three-game weekend trip to Boston (in early February) and it's been all up from there. We faced a little adversity, and I'm sure there's more to come, but we're going up the mountain."

"We'll take the win, but (Tuesday) is a new day," he added. "We're taking it one game at a time."

He said the team has been able to keep the tournament in perspective, knowing it is there for a greater purpose than getting out of its pool. The Flames welcomed the Argos into their post-game prayer huddle and most accepted the invitation.

"We're having a blast," Tucker said. "It's nationals. We've worked all year for this and now it's time to reap the benefits. We're here to have fun, but it's also a road trip and a business trip. As much as it is about the game, it's just as much about what we do at center ice at the end of it. We're trying to reach as many people (with the Gospel) as we can, if it's one guy or it's hundreds."

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