No. 4 Flames prepare for quick turnaround in battles with No. 6 Bulldogs

Friday, January 31

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Adrian College

Flames graduate forward Jackson Vercellono drives the puck against Adrian College in last season's Star Wars game at the LaHaye Ice Center.

No. 4 Flames prepare for quick turnaround in battles with No. 6 Bulldogs

1/30/2025 12:00:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Liberty will be at near full strength as it challenges Adrian, which has won three national championships in the past seven seasons.

The past five times Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team has faced off against Adrian College in a regular-season series, the teams have split, including this past October in Adrian, Mich., where the Flames overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period of Game 2 to win 4-3 in overtime.

Liberty was eliminated by the eventual national champion Bulldogs in the ACHA DI National Championship quarterfinals last March near St. Louis, 4-2.

In this week's ACHA Division I rankings, the Flames slipped one spot to No. 4, while Adrian remained at No. 6 even after sweeping No. 8 Calvin (Mich) University, a team that swept Liberty two weekends ago.

"It is a huge challenge and we're looking forward to it," Head Coach Kirk Handy said, noting all eight of the Flames' games down the stretch are against top 25 teams, including four against No. 3 Ohio, which traded places with Liberty in this week's poll. "This is a great opportunity for us heading down the stretch to make sure that we've got our A game working for us."

While the team is back close to full strength after returning its five players who represented Team USA at the Winter World University Games in Italy last weekend, it is still without junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster and junior defenseman Reid Bogenholm, sidelined by injury, and a few players affected by the flu.

"We've had some sickness, so we'll see how that pans out this week," Handy said. "We have confidence in all our guys, whoever gets in the game in the positions they're in, even among the freshmen. We see their confidence building and their dependability as they have learned the college game and what it's going to take to be successful."

One of those freshmen, Hayden DeMars, has had a breakout start to the spring semester.

"He's been very good for us," Handy said. "He's been able to find the back of the net and he's been a key player for us on the power play and the PK and his line has been excellent for us."

DeMars netted the Flames' first two goals in the first period of a 5-3 victory over Niagara on Saturday, with freshmen linemates Tucker Shields and Liam Cox-Smith also netting goals in the game.

"That was definitely the momentum we needed for the back end of the season before playoffs," DeMars said. "Hopefully, we just keep building off it."

"Our line's really connected," he added. "After Thanksgiving, we really started trusting each other … and working on each other and it's been really fun."

He realizes the Bulldogs pose a greater threat than Calvin or Niagara have so far this semester.

"They're a really good team and if we just keep playing how we've been, I think we'll find success," DeMars said. "I know they're a really big team, and it will be a pretty fast-paced game. Hopefully, we'll get everyone healthy, and we should be good to go. If we just play our game, keep it simple, and play free, we'll be the best we can be. We're excited. We're ready to go."

Handy said playing two games 15 hours apart — at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday — will be similar to the Flames' series against Niagara, which started with the third and final Midnight Mayhem game of the semester before Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.

"It is a real quick turnaround, but it is for both teams," he said. "At nationals, we may play one game at night and another the next morning, so it's good preparation. We're learning more about our team and more about each other and what we have to do to be successful."

Scouting Preview, Games 26-27: No. 6 Adrian (21-1-2) at No. 3 Liberty (16-5-4), Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Friday's opener will be a White Out game with Liberty fans encouraged to come dressed in white, representing one of the hottest of all flames.

All-time series: Adrian leads Liberty 17-7, dating back to the teams' first meeting in 2012, when the Bulldogs bounced the Flames from the national tournament near Cleveland, as they did again last March near St. Louis before going on to win their third national title in seven years.

Liberty Scouting Report: With Feamster (10 goals, 14 assists) still on injured reserve, graduate forward Jackson Vercellono (13 G, 11A) and Shields (9G, 15A) have moved into a three-way tie for the Flames scoring lead, followed closely by DeMars (9G, 14A), junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (21A) and sophomore forward Mason Smith (7G, 13A)
A trio of freshmen forwards — Cox-Smith (10G, 9A), Mac Ratzlaff (7G, 10A), and Kal Essenmacher (8G, 8A) —rank seventh, eighth, and ninth in scoring, respectively, tied with senior forwards and alternate captains Jacob Kalandyk (10G, 6A) and Truett Olson (7G, 9A).

Between the pipes, Liberty has split duties between sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch (11-2-1, 1.76 goals-against average, 94.8 save percentage, 3 shutouts) and junior Nicholas Bernstein (5-3-2, 2.98 GAA, 91.3 SP, 2 SO).

Adrian Scouting Report: The Bulldogs have outscored opponents this season by a 144-35 margin with extremely balanced production from a lineup that features 15 players in double digits in points including nine with 20 points or more. Adrian's top three scorers are forwards Justin Jamer (9G, 22A) and Dylan Gajewski (11G, 14A) and defenseman Ethan McLaughlin (7G, 18A), but they have yet to score a game-winning goal. Alex Schaumberger (7G, 13A) leads the Bulldogs with four game winners followed by fellow forwards Sebastian Smith (12G, 11A), Matthew DiCesare (15G, 7A), and Cash Regan (10G, 12A) with three apiece and Andreas Fleutot (8G, 16A) with two.
In goal, Adrian has platooned Peyton Trzaska (13-1-2, 1.61 GAA, 93.2 SP, 5 SO) and Noah DeCottignies (6-0, 0.67 GAA, 96.6 SP, 4 SO).

Coaches: Handy is in his 25th season as head coach for the Flames, sporting a career record of 554-226-37. Gary Astalos, in his ninth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, boasts a 274-25-4 overall record and three national championships in 2018, 2021, and 2024.

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