Liberty players celebrate one of their 11 goals against Pittsburgh in Saturday's rematch at the Alpha Ice Complex. (Photos by Megan Lovelace)
Kalandyk, Vercellono, Olson line ignites offense as Flames complete sweep of Panthers
9/28/2024 6:13:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty Head Coach put his top line from last season back together and they contributed four goals in Saturday's 11-0 pummeling at Pitt.
Senior forward and alternate captain Jacob Kalandyk started and ended the scoring and junior forward and head captain also netted two goals to help Liberty University's No. 5-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team complete a sweep of the 10th-ranked University of Pittsburgh on its home ice, pummeling the Panthers, 11-0, Saturday afternoon in the Alpha Ice Complex.
The Flames (3-1) outshot Pitt (3-3) by a 53-30 margin and posted their second straight shutout of the ESCHL power, with junior goalie Nick Bernstein making 30 saves in the win to even his record at 1-1 after last week's 4-3 loss to Florida Gulf Coast University and cut his goals-against average in half to 2.00. Defensemen Nate Cox (4) and Kevin Bite (21) lead a breakout.
"Both nights, we had excellent goaltending, and that's a big part of it," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said after sophomore Konrad Kauch saved 31 shots in Friday night's 6-0 series-opening victory. "They both played stellar for us and made some timely saves. Nick played well. They had a power play early in the game and we killed that off and Kalandyk scored right afterwards."
That gave the Flames a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish at the 15:45 mark as they scored five more times in a seven-minute span late in the first period to seize a commanding 6-0 advantage.
Freshman forward Tucker Shields started that scoring spurt with 9:51 to go in the first frame before graduate forward Jackson Vercellono followed less than a minute later. Feamster converted his first goal before senior forward and alternate captain Truett Olson answered and sophomore forward Mason Smith stretched the edge to 6-0 moments later.
"We played really well today," said Handy, who put Kalandyk, Olson, and Vercellono back on the same line after they thrived playing together last season. "It was good to have those guys back together and it seemed to pay big dividends. It was great to see them get some momentum going. It was a great response from last weekend. Our guys were very effective tonight."
Liberty finished 2-for-6 on the power play and killed off both of its penalties.
"Our guys only took two minor penalties today, which was huge," Handy said. "I liked the way our guys approached the game. We were eventually able to get pucks in deep, and keep up our forecheck, and the energy level on the bench was great."
Freshmen forwards Michael DeBrito, Mac Ratzlaff, and Liam Cox-Smith (his first at Liberty) accounted for the Flames' seventh, eighth, and ninth goals in the second period before Feamster scored his second to make it 10-0 going into the third, when Kalandyk capped the scoring.
Liberty returns home next weekend to host its first Midnight Mayhem game against Delaware, another ESCHL opponent, on Friday, with the puck dropping at 11:59 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center, before completing the series on Saturday at 7 p.m.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterMichael DeBrito netted the Flames' seventh goal before fellow freshman forwards Mac Ratzlaff and Liam Cox-Smith followed suit.
