DI women reload roster, renew focus on building winning, Christ-centered culture

A total of 12 new players and coaches grace the roster of 24 players and staff of four coaches. (Photos by Simon Barbre)

DI women reload roster, renew focus on building winning, Christ-centered culture

8/29/2024 4:58:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey

The Lady Flames have 10 newcomers this season, which starts Sept. 8 with the first of five exhibition games, before opening ACHA play at defending national champion Adrian (Mich.) College on Oct. 25.

Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team, which features eight recruits and two transfers on its 24-player roster and two new coaches on staff, is approaching the 2024-25 season as a clean sheet of ice.

"We're two weeks in and really like the start that we've had," Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "There are lots of new faces on the roster and on staff, but overall, I really like what we've seen and the early signs of who we're going to become. It's an exciting time for our team right now."

The Lady Flames, who had their ACHA-record stretch of five consecutive national championships snapped in double overtime of a semifinal showdown with Minot State last March, will set their sights on a seventh title in program history next spring near St. Louis. They realize, however, that the destination is not as important as the journey and the ultimate prize is not a trophy but a crown.

"Nationals last year taught us a lot," senior forward Isabella Hervert said. "Ultimately, it's all in God's hands. He had us lose for some reason, and it was a little bit humbling. But at the beginning of the season, Lowes sets out goals, and our goal at the end of the day is to have a good season and to ultimately win nationals, but to also glorify the Lord through all of it. No matter what you do, no matter what the score of the game is, the end goal is that you are saved in Christ and that He reigns over everything."

Hervert is one of the team's spiritual leaders this season along with senior forwards Zosia Adamek and Brielle Fussy — both also team captains along with fellow senior forward Haley Battles and junior defenseman Emerson Oakes — and sophomore forward Sienna McClinchey.

"Spiritual growth is huge on our team," Hervert said. "So many girls have come to Christ, and it's been amazing to see that. With our freshman class being 10, we're learning where they are in their spiritual walk, and our ultimate goal is to have them grow in Christ."

DI-womens-coaching-portrait — Frank Keating (from left) joins the DI women's hockey coaching staff along with Mike Morrison, Head Coach Chris Lowes, and Madison Pinel.

Lowes and Assistant Coach Mike Morrison return on staff, complemented by Madison (Fischer) Pinel, who played forward for Liberty from 2012-16 and served as an assistant coach from 2018-21, and Frank Keating, who played hockey at West Point from 1978-82 and will work with the Lady Flames' front lines.

"It's about finding the right balance and the right chemistry," Lowes said. "All of us bring something and then our strengths make up for other areas. Madi (who married former Flames DI men's hockey goalie Matt Pinel ('17)) and her family love Liberty, they love the mission. Madi loves on the girls, and she's really gifted as a coach and a teacher. Having her as a female who can relate to the players is a natural added bonus."

Pinel said the preseason transition has gone smoothly for the incoming recruits and transfers who come from as far as British Columbia (forwards Hayley Lee and Arizona State transfer Tristan Craig), Ontario (defenseman Julianne Lefaive, forward Presley Ellis, and goalie Brooklyn Adams), and New Brunswick, Canada (defenseman Isabelle Peletier), as well as across the United States in Michigan (forward Brooke Olson), Minnesota (forward Chloe Lownsbury), Utah (NCAA DIII Nichols (Mass.) College transfer Victoria Khou), and Michigan (forward Patricia Misiak).

Adams, the only goalie in a class that includes six forwards and three defensemen, will provide competition in net for junior goalie Alex Keith, who had a stellar 2023-24 season (13-1-3, 5 shutouts, 0.94 goals-against average) and graduate Kylie Mebs, the starting goalie on the 2021 national championship team who returned from injury to help the DII team win its first two national tournament games in program history last spring.

"It is exciting to see this new group of girls and how the standard of setting the bar has gotten better and better with our recruits," Pinel said, noting that they bring plenty of experience, especially from the transfers, as well as speed, talent, and motivation. "We love this group of girls that have come in and worked hard from the get-go and just want to get better and push every single day. The most overwhelming part for them probably is the speed and intensity of our practices, and they have picked it up really, really quickly."

Liberty will host five exhibition games to prepare for an extremely challenging ACHA slate, entertaining the Washington Pride in a season opener on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 1:30 p.m. before welcoming the Ontario-based Hockey Training Institute's U20 elite team to the LIC on Sept. 21-22 and Purcell Hockey Academy, a U-18 prep team from British Columbia coached by former Lady Flames forward Valeriia (Manchak) Jensen, on Sept. 27-28.

"We've got an incredible schedule," Lowes said, noting that the Lady Flames open their regular season at defending ACHA DI national champion Adrian (Mich.) College on Oct. 25-26. "We know what kind of a challenge that's going to be. We've said it for years, the league just gets better. Those years when Coach Pinel was part of it, when we ran through and went undefeated, those days are done. The top-end teams just continue to push the bar, and I'd like to think we were part of pushing and raising that standard, too."

For the first time for any female Club Sports team, the Lady Flames will stage a Midnight Mayhem game when they host Maryville (Mo.) University on Nov. 1 at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"We're all super excited," Carle said. "We've seen the (men's team play) for years now, and we've always been dreaming of this, so for us finally to be able to get the chance, I hope we get the arena packed. This is a way for us to get out there and be able to reach other people on campus that haven't been to a women's hockey game before. I hope they get a taste of women's hockey and realize that we can compete just as well, and they keep coming back for more."

After two games against the Saints, Liberty will take the first of four trips to the St. Louis area to compete in a WMCH showcase against Midland (Neb.) on Nov. 7, Maryville on its home ice on Nov. 8, and Jamestown (N.D.) on Nov. 9 at Lindenwood's Centene Community Ice Center in Marlboro, Mo. The site of the WMCH Tournament in late February and ACHA DI National Championships in mid-March which will also host a second annual WMCH All-Star game on Nov. 10.

Carle said the Lady Flames must stay focused on their weekly opponents and not look ahead to the national tournament prematurely.

"The competition, honestly, has been getting stronger and stronger, which at the end of the day makes it so much more fun," she said. "Every single day you go into a game, and you don't know what the outcome is going to be. So, it lights a little spark under us every practice, to go out there, be your best, have the best attitude, and work the hardest."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Reagan Underwood/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant