Freshmen fuel Flames’ attack, help complete series sweep of Purple Eagles

Saturday, January 25

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Niagara University

Liberty sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch is surrounded by defensemen Nate Cox and Kevin Bite with frontal protection from freshman forward Michael DeBrito in Saturday night's rematch with the Purple Eagles. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Freshmen fuel Flames’ attack, help complete series sweep of Purple Eagles

1/25/2025 11:45:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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Hayden DeMars notched Liberty's first two goals before fellow rookie forwards Tucker Shields and Liam Cox-Smith built a 4-2 lead in the second and third periods, when senior forward Truett Olson capped the scoring.

Gallery: (1-25-2025) DI men's hockey vs. Niagara Game 2

Freshmen forwards accounted for the first four goals by Liberty University's No. 3-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team in Saturday night's 5-3 triumph over No. 11 Niagara University at the LaHaye Ice Center before Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy turned to his upperclassmen to secure the victory down the stretch.

Trailing 4-3, the Purple Eagles pulled their goalie with more than two minutes left in regulation and Liberty needed just over a minute to clinch the series sweep with an empty netter as graduate forward Jackson Vercellono cleared the puck out from the backboards all the way up to streaking senior forward and alternate captain Truett Olson at the other end for an uncontested finish with 58 seconds left.

"We went to our older guys, and it was a great faceoff win by (senior forward and alternate captain Jacob) Kalandyk who sends it back to Vercellono," Handy said. "He hammers it down the ice, and Olson wins the race and puts it in, so it was a fantastic play."

In a series between two independent programs that didn't feature a two-goal lead for either one until the final 10 minutes of the third period, the Flames avoided starting the spring semester with a fourth consecutive contest decided in overtime.

"Way to come back for our guys," Handy said. "It was good to get the win, but a two-goal win (in regulation) is even better."

"Overall, we got better as a team this weekend," he added. "We had good compete. You want to play in these tight games, and it's important for us to learn how to win tight games like last night and tonight. That's the fun part of the stretch run; it's quality opponents every night and allows us to play against teams that are going to be at nationals and to refine things here down the stretch."

After being outshot 20-9 in the first period and still leading, 2-1, Liberty (16-5-4) turned the tables on its guests and outshot Niagara (15-5-2) by a 16-9 margin in the second period and 13-9 in the third to finish dead even at 38-38. Sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch, who started every game for Team USA in the Winter World University Games in Italy from Jan. 12-23, made 35 saves for the second game in 21 hours, in his 10th contest in 15 days.

"That was fun," Kausch said. "It felt very good to get two wins for sure. It's been a long last week and a half. It was incredible all around; it was so cool. Really special. I'm ready to go to bed."

He received more offensive support in the rematch than he had in the 2-1 Midnight Mayhem duel decided in overtime.

Flames freshman forward Hayden DeMars, who had several near misses on deep drives around the goalmouth during the series opener early Saturday morning, cashed on two more chances to account for Liberty's two first-period goals in the evening rematch.

He started the scoring at the 15:21 mark by capitalizing on assists from sophomore forward Ryan Finch along the backboards and freshman forward Tucker Shields, who provided a shield in front of Niagara goalie Jacob Dubinsky as DeMars launched a quick short-side top-shelf wrist shot through traffic in the left circle.

Later, after Adam Sojka ripped a bar-down shot through the slot to tie the contest, DeMars netted a spectacular second go-ahead goal in the final 38 seconds of the first period. He received an outlet from junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau before working a give-and-go pass sequence with fellow freshman forward Michael DeBrito through the left circle, converting his beautiful backhand return feed from point-blank range in front before crashing over Dubinsky.

"Those were both fantastic shots and DeMars could have had a few more," Handy said. "He was dynamic tonight."

Following a Flames turnover on transition out of the defensive zone, Niagara leading scorer Charlie Belanger took advantage by sneaking a wraparound goal between Kausch's right skate and the left post to tie it at 2 with 15:27 left in the second period.

Seconds after killing off a penalty assessed to Kausch for roughing a Purple Eagles forward who had overextended his stay in the blue ice, Shields received a fast-break feed from Vercellono off an outlet pass from senior defenseman Nate Cox. Shields skated around a defenseman before firing a low shot from the left circle past Dubinsky inside the right post for a 3-2 advantage at the 11:04 mark. Vercellono eclipsed the 100-point mark for his Liberty career with the assist.

Then in the third, the Flames doubled their lead to 4-2 with 8:56 remaining in regulation on the fourth goal by a freshman forward when Liam Cox-Smith took a pass from Shields before skating around a Niagara defenseman and lifting a wrist shot from the left circle past Dubinsky into the top-right corner for an insurance score.

Liberty would need it as the Purple Eagles' Austin Robinson caught Kausch out of position on a power play and cleaned up a loose puck along the left endline by rebounding a shot off the diving goalie's pads and into the upper netting, trimming the deficit to 4-3 with 5:12 to play.

"We definitely want to continue to refine our defensive zone and to continue to work on our special teams," Handy said. "Kausch probably wants that one goal back, but he played a great weekend for us after a lot of games (in Italy)."

Handy commended Vercellono for his leadership throughout the series and his fourth and final season with the Flames.

"He's a special guy," Handy said. "He embodies who we want to be as a program on and off the ice, and he's a leader on and off the ice. He cares about the guys from a hockey standpoint, but cares about them more from a spiritual standpoint. He's definitely been a big part of our program and a big part of the direction we always want to continue to go."

Liberty will return to the LIC next Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. for back-to-back battles against No. 6-ranked Adrian (Mich.) College, which has won two ACHA national championships in the past four seasons.

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