Shorthanded Flames lose special teams battle to Purple Eagles

Friday, October 31

Niagara Falls, NY

3:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Niagara University

Flames sophomore forward Tucker Shields is hooked by Purple Eagles defenseman Cullen McCormick in last season's sweep of Niagara at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Simon Barbre)

Shorthanded Flames lose special teams battle to Purple Eagles

10/31/2025 7:31:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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No. 8 Niagara converted two of its power-play opportunities and killed off all five of its penalties to sweep No. 5 Liberty for a second straight series in Dwyer Arena.

Playing without senior head captain Sam Feamster, who was injured in Friday's series-opening setback, Liberty University's No. 5-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team played a more competitive rematch with No. 8 Niagara University, but still came up on the short end of the stick, falling 5-2 on Friday afternoon at Dwyer Arena in Niagara, N.Y.

"It wasn't the strongest showing," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said, noting the team was also without the services of senior forward Ryan Finch and sophomore forward Mac Ratzlaff, who were both injured in last weekend's sweep of Stony Brook, and freshman defenseman Michael Fischer, injured in the season's first loss at Adrian College. "We didn't play particularly well again. We were shorthanded, but that's not an excuse. It's a team game, and we weren't good enough this weekend. We've got to be better next week."

Liberty (11-3), which entered the series with five times as many special teams opportunities as Niagara (9-1) on the season, struggled in both departments against the Purple Eagles on Friday — finishing 0-for-5 on the power play and only killing off three of their five penalties.

Offensively, junior forwards Luke Munroe and Aidan Carney, NCAA transfers from Division III SUNY Geneseo and Division I University of Maine, respectively, accounted for the Flames' two goals.

Forward Cody Gudnason's first goal of the season lifted Niagara to a 2-0 lead with 8:19 left in the first period before Munroe (9 goals, 6 assists) moved in front of Finch into third on the team in scoring by finishing off assists from Liberty's two leading scorers — senior forward Michael DeBrito (6G, 10A) and junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (1G, 15A) — pulling the Flames back within 2-1 at the 2:35 mark.

The Purple Eagles netted the only two goals of the second period — 46 seconds after the opening faceoff and by forward Cayden Glover 15 seconds before the second intermission — beating senior goalie Nick Bernstein with shots that stretched their lead to 4-1.

Niagara leading scorer Charlie Belanger all but iced the victory by extending the edge to 5-1 with 8:00 remaining in regulation. Carney provided a memorable highlight for Liberty, netting his first goal for the Flames by putting away passes from freshman forward Seth Wall and sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher for the game's final score with 5:24 to go.

After an 11-1 start, the best in program history at the DI level, the lopsided losses will hurt the Flames in the national poll, which will shift to computerized rankings this week. For the second week in a row, they will have a short week of preparation for their next series, a rematch of last season's 5-2 ACHA DI National Championship quarterfinal win over Jamestown (N.D.) University near St. Louis.

"We've got to get back (to the LaHaye Ice Center) and have three good days of practice and be ready to go Thursday night," Handy said. "There's a lot of things we need to work on, and this gives us a great opportunity to go back to work on Monday to get back on track."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer