Lady Flames’ six-year run as ACHA DI national champs stopped by Beavers, 2-1 in double OT

Carly-Glover-Liberty-DI-womens-hockey — Senior forward Carly Glover assisted the Lady Flames' tying goal in the first period before going down with an injury in the second.

Saturday night's rematch of last season's ACHA Division I women's hockey National Championship final was even more evenly matched. Top-seeded Liberty University battled with No. 4 Minot State for more than 98 minutes before the semifinal showdown — like Friday's quarterfinal win over Arizona State — was finally decided in sudden-death overtime at the Centene Community Ice Center.

Only this time, for the first time in Head Coach Chris Lowes' seventh season at the helm, the five-time-defending national champion Lady Flames lost in the national tournament, yielding a goal in the final 2:10 of the second 20-minute extra period for a 2-1 semifinal setback in the USA Arena, where the Beavers will face No. 2 Adrian College for the title on Sunday.

"I hate it for our seniors," Lowes said. "We're losing some of the cornerstones of our program, (graduate forward Yannick) Truter, (senior forward Carly) Glover, (senior goalie Amanda) Storey. The rest of the team will have a chance for redemption, (but) to see what they did over their careers and know that that was their last one and they had to go out that way (was hard). I'm just proud of this group."

Beavers forward Cameron Schmidt put away her third game-winning goal of the season from deep in the left crease after taking a well-placed pass across the slot from defenseman Makenna Beard and slamming it past Liberty sophomore goalie Alex Keith.

"Got to give credit to Minot," Lowes said of the Beavers (24-11), who dealt the Lady Flames (22-5-2) their first loss of the season on Oct. 14 and their last one just over five months later. "What a game. They battled so hard. Both teams were running on fumes, and we knew something would happen. There was going to be a break or a bounce or a goal. It just took one bounce, one rebound to the right spot and they made the most of it."

Minot State struck first when forward Riley Ball deftly deflected defenseman Paige Ackerman's shot from near the right blue line past Keith with 7:35 left in the first period.

For the second night in a row, Liberty graduate forward and head captain Rianna Spanier netted the equalizer on a power play, this time assisted by senior forward Carly Glover, who spotted her open in the right crease and threaded a pass to her down the slot for the point-blank finish at the 2:15 mark.

Liberty-freshman-forward Ellie-Sarauer — Freshman forward Ellie Sarauer skates the puck up ice against the Beavers.

The Lady Flames outshot the Beavers by a 71-42 margin for the game, including by a whopping 22-3 count in the third period and 23-6 total in the first overtime period, but Minot goalie Haylie Biever made 70 saves to help send her team to Sunday's 2 p.m. EST championship game against Adrian College, a 5-3 winner over Midland (Neb.) University in the other semifinal.

"We had some really good moments in overtime, especially the first overtime period where we pressed, but just couldn't find that one," Lowes said. "Biever's good. She's one of the perennial top goalies in the league. We knew it would be tough to beat her. The longer it goes, you just knew it was going to be a bounce or something weird. There was a lot of dangerous pucks from both teams and they got the one that mattered."

Liberty killed off Minot State's second power play and very nearly took the lead when senior defenseman Sammy Peebles' shot from the top of the right circle bounced off the lower-right post. At the other end, Keith (40 saves) made a kick save of a dangerous shot through the left circle near the right post before diving to smother the loose puck in front.

The Beavers went back on the power play after a body check by Peebles along the boards, but the Lady Flames' penalty kill again shut them down, with Keith damming the cage with solid support from her defense.

"This nationals was very special teams-oriented … and our PK was good all year," Lowes said.

Action went back and forth throughout the period with the shot totals dead even before graduate defenseman Aislyn Stretch gave Liberty a 20-19 advantage with her shot from the top of the right circle that glanced off the side of the cage.

Just over a minute into the third period, the Lady Flames got a scare when Glover collided with a Minot player and both landed hard on the ice. She was assessed a penalty and had to be helped off the ice in a scene similar to last season's national semifinal against Adrian College, when Glover suffered a lower-body injury that sidelined her until December.

Losing Glover for the rest of the contest took away one of this semester's best scoring threats, but the Lady Flames remained on the offensive, with freshman forward Sienna McClinchey and junior defenseman Madison Glover narrowly missing scoring chances from the right and left sides, respectively.

"We lost a big part of our line, but we knew that anyone could step in and fill some big shoes and Sienna did a phenomenal job," Battles said. "She came right in and she grinded until the last puck drop."

Truter's shot from the slot was blocked by Biever before sophomore defenseman Brookelyn Beauchamp's shot from the same spot was deflected just wide left and Stretch's attempt from the top of the left circle glanced off the left side of the cage.

The Lady Flames opened the first 20-minute overtime period on a power play and Battles and Zosia Adamek had near misses on shots from inside the left circle and slot.

After the penalty expired, Liberty still maintained steady pressure with senior defenseman Peyton Carle and Beauchamp getting quality putback opportunities from in the right and left creases.

Minot State went on its first power play since early in the third period with 10:30 remaining in the overtime, but the Lady Flames' defense tightened once more and Truter had a backhand blocked by Biever soon after coming out of the penalty box.

The Lady Flames ended the overtime period the same way they started, on the power play, giving them a second golden opportunity to put the game away and punch their ticket to the championship game.

But Battles missed the best two shots they were able to muster, and the game went into a second overtime still knotted at 1.

"Biever played big and their D were definitely collapsing, so we had to make sure that we were crashing the net, because that's all that she really gave us was those rebounds," Battles said. "She always gives us a good run for our money and sometimes you just can't put it in."

She said the team has overcome its share of adversity this season, which didn't make Saturday's loss any easier.

"We've gone through a lot of changes this year, but our team is pretty adaptable and I believe that we're very coachable," Battles said. "So when we come into these games, we're as prepared as we can be and we just know that we have to lean on each other and that's all we can do."

She was disappointed especially for the seniors playing their last games, but said they inspired her to keep the loss in perspective.

"It was a long game and we pushed through and this one definitely hurts, but we know at the end of the day that we're playing only for God and that's all that matters," Battles said. "(The seniors) were the ones that were keeping their heads high saying, 'It's all good. We play for something bigger than ourselves. It's just a game.'"

Battles and her returning teammates will come back next season with a chip on their shoulder and eager to reclaim their crown with the help of a talented incoming class of recruits.

"We're just using it as fuel," Battles said. "We don't want to feel like this again. We know that we just have to go back to Lynchburg and go back to work and that's all we can do. We've got some seniors and some grads that are leaving and we've got a big class coming in and we're ready to see what happens."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Kylee Lilge/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator

DI-womens-hockey-Zosia-Adamek — Zosia Adamek had apparent goals disallowed in both overtimes, including using her skate to push the puck into the net in the second.

Lady Flames’ six-year run as ACHA DI national champs stopped by Beavers, 2-1 in double OT

Players Mentioned

Zosia Adamek

Brookelyn Beauchamp

Peyton Carle

Carly Glover

Sienna McClinchey

Sammy Peebles

Rianna Spanier

Aislyn Stretch

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