Eighth-ranked Flames eager to burn Midnight oil against No. 2 Beavers

Friday, December 5

Lynchburg, VA

11:59 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Minot State University

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Eighth-ranked Flames eager to burn Midnight oil against No. 2 Beavers

12/4/2025 7:29:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Minot State has dominated the all-time series, knocking Liberty out of the ACHA DI National Championship semifinals in 2021 and 2023 and sweeping all four meetings that fall before the Flames won last season’s only matchup.

Liberty University's No. 8-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team is hopeful that an anticipated sellout crowd for Friday night's Midnight Mayhem matchup will help overcome the Minot State mystique in the opener of its semester-ending series against the No. 2 Beavers.

"We always love playing Minot because we know it's going to be a good battle," Flames senior center and second-year head captain Sam Feamster said. "They're a great team, one of our biggest rivals, and we're excited to play them, especially in the Midnight game. Every time we play them, it always gets really intense."

He said injury-wise, sophomore forward Mac Ratzlaff is the only player in Liberty's lineup that is questionable for this weekend's series. Coming off Thanksgiving Break, the Flames have renewed energy and enthusiasm as they look forward to Christmas and a third trip to Finland as a team in six seasons, organized by LU Send through Operation Mobilization in the New Year, from Jan. 4-14.

"We're pretty healthy and pretty rested, so there's no excuses this weekend," Feamster said. "It's a good test of our game, to see where we're at. We're going to give it our all, and I think if we play our game, we'll get them."

Senior forward Aidan Carney, a 6-foot, 4-inch transfer from NCAA Division I Maine, believes Liberty — which defeated the Beavers in their only matchup last season — is poised for another upset after prime time.

"The first (Midnight Mayhem) was awesome, with the crowd and the environment was pretty crazy, so I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It will be a fun weekend."

"I think we're heading in the right direction," he added. "We're jelling better every day. We're working hard, playing intense, passing well, shooting well, and the systems are looking good, so we are excited for the next game. We just need to get pucks in early, forecheck, and keep playing hard on (defense) to turn over pucks and make quick plays."

Feamster said the Flames have shown flashes of brilliance this season, while slow starts have cost them in their four losses — series and showcase openers at No. 6 Adrian College and No. 9 Maryville (Mo.) University, respectively, and a two-game sweep at No. 1 Niagara (N.Y.) University.

"Right now, when we stick to our systems and bring our hearts to the game, we're a national championship-ready team, and when we're not, we're far away from it," he said. "It really comes down to just our mental focus and being in the moment and deciding before the game that we're going to play the right way. When we've done that, we've been great this year, and if we bring that this weekend, we'll be in great shape."

"We have a lot of guys contributing offensively," he added. "(First-year Assistant Coach) Ben Hughes has been great this year implementing his systems, so if we can stick to those, that's how we beat teams like Minot."

Scouting Preview, Games 20-21: No. 2 Minot State (15-1-1) at No. 8 Liberty (15-4), Friday at 11:59 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+. After the Midnight Mayhem game, the Flames will auction off the jerseys also worn in their first late-night contest of the season. For Saturday night's rematch, on faculty and staff appreciation night, fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal to throw out onto the ice immediately after Liberty's first goal, with donations supporting the Lynchburg area Toys for Tots Christmas drive.

All-time series: Minot State holds a commanding 20-4 advantage over Liberty, winning 17 of the past 19 meetings. Ranked No. 10 at the time, the Flames won the second game of last November's Maryville (Mo.) Showcase, overcoming a 2-0 deficit by scoring five unanswered goals against the then-No. 1-ranked Beavers. That game was played in the same arena, not far from St. Louis, where Liberty lost to Minot in the 2021 ACHA DI National Championships semifinal. The two teams met again in the 2023 Final Four near Boston, with the Beavers overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime, before going on to capture their third national title, beating three-time champion Adrian (Mich.) College in the final.

Liberty Scouting Report: The Flames feature extremely balanced offensive production with seven double-digit scorers — senior forwards Michael DeBrito (8 goals, 2 game-winning goals, 14 assists) and Ryan Finch (12G, 2GWG, 7A), junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (2G, 17A), junior forward Luke Munroe (10G, 2GWG, 9A), and sophomore forwards Kal Essenmacher (8G, 3GWG, 7A) and Liam Cox-Smith (3G, 10A), who was born and raised in Minot, N.D., and Feamster (2G, 8A).
Between the pipes, junior goalie Konrad Kausch (8-2, 2.90 goals-against average, 89.7 save percentage, 1 shutout) and senior Nick Bernstein (6-2, 2.36 GAA, 91.8 SP) have platooned with similar degrees of success.

Minot State Scouting Report: After finishing 37-4-2 and reaching the ACHA DI Final Four last season, losing to Adrian, 4-0, the Beavers are off to another scorching start this fall. They won both showdowns with reigning national champion UNLV and swept four meetings with Maryville after winning two exhibition openers against Briercrest College, an ACAC program from Saskatchewan, Canada.

Minot features six players who have reached double figures in scoring, including three forwards (Colby Joseph (11G, 3GWG), 8A), Jay Buchholz (6G, 5A), and Joey Moffatt (6G, 5A)) and three defensemen (Matthew Yakubowski (3G, 12A), Christian Kadolph (2G, 9A), and Logan Rands (3G, 7A)).

The Beavers' netminders have proven especially stingy, with Will Dyke (9-1-1, 1.99 GAA, 92.6) and Blake Sittler (3-0, 1.67 GAA, 93.8 SP) both extremely effective in damming up their cages.

Coaches: Kirk Handy is in his 26th season as head coach for the Flames, with a career record of 576-232-38. He guided Liberty to its ninth consecutive national tournament appearance last March, when it made its third trip to the Final Four in five seasons. Wyatt Waselenchuk, Minot State's first ACHA Division I Player of the Year in 2013 after leading the Beavers to their first national championship, is 152-20-6 in his fifth season at the helm after serving as an assistant coach on their second Murdoch Cup-winning team in 2019 and guiding Minot to its third crown in 2023.

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