Flames extend winning streak over Panthers to six games with 8-3 victory

Friday, February 14

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Pittsburgh

Flames junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster scored a goal in his first game back from injury since the fall semester. (Photos by Emily Cuthrell)

Flames extend winning streak over Panthers to six games with 8-3 victory

2/14/2025 11:45:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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Liberty opened a 5-0 lead early in the second period before allowing Pittsburgh to mount a bit of a comeback and pulling away late.

Gallery: (2-14-2025) DI men's hockey vs. Pitt Game 1

Five goals by freshmen forwards — including two by Kal Essenmacher and Hayden DeMars — sparked Liberty University's No. 4-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team to an 8-3 triumph over No. 20 Pittsburgh, Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center.

The rematch of the Flames' 7-2 first-round win at the 2023 National Championships near Boston was a physical affair and got a bit chippy at times. But Liberty (20-6-4) maintained control of the Panthers (14-10-5) from the outset, outshooting Pitt by a 50-26 margin, including 22-6 in the third period.

"It was a good game," freshman forward Mac Ratzlaff said. "After playing Niagara and Adrian and Ohio, it was a change of pace, but we played pretty well and capitalized on a lot of our chances and had some guys step up as well, which in these games we need it."

Liberty started the scoring just 1:06 after the opening faceoff when freshman forward Liam Cox-Smith converted off a feed from DeMars with a fantastic maneuver through a triangle of Pitt defensemen as he cut across the slot before pocketing his shot into the top-right corner of the net.

"That was a great goal," Ratzlaff said. "It was actually a one-on-three, and he made a couple nice moves. Scoring that goal early in the first period and then potting a couple more late was huge. It kind of got them out of the game pretty early."

Nick Pomerleau and Nate Cox — Junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau congratulates senior Nate Cox after his goal late in the first period extended Liberty's lead to 4-0.

Then, with 2:06 left in the period, senior defenseman Nate Cox doubled the Flames' advantage with a wrist shot from the left circle inside the near post through traffic in front off assists from graduate center Jackson Vercellono and senior forward Jacob Kalandyk.

Freshman forward Tucker Shields padded the lead to 3-0 with 1:10 to play after taking Cox-Smith's backhanded feed from along the back boards and lifting a wrist shot in the right circle into the top-left corner of the cage past Panthers goalie Grant Lindsay.

Liberty killed off a penalty to start the second period before capitalizing soon thereafter when Kal Essenmacher received Ratzlaff's outlet pass off the back boards and skated through the neutral zone before threading a backhander through the five hole from deep in the left crease, extending the Flames' advantage to 4-0 at the 15:35 mark.

"Essenmacher never takes a shift off so it's always awesome when he scores," Ratzlaff said. "I didn't have to do much. He made a really nice move; it was a great play by him."

Then, Vercellono chased down a steal and beautiful backhanded outlet stretch pass from freshman defenseman Michael Adamek that crossed both blue lines down into the slot before lifting a backhanded wrist shot inside the left post for his team-high 16th goal of the season with 13:57 left in the second stanza.

With Pitt on a power play, after fending off a couple shorthanded chances by the Flames, Panthers forward Edward Pazo ended sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch's shutout bid by ripping a top-shelf wrist shot from the high slot, trimming the deficit to 5-1 at the 10:51 mark. Then, the visitors cut the gap to 5-2 with 3:29 left in the period on an open-net finish by Brady Rotolo off Drake Tomak's cross-crease feed from behind the cage that split Liberty defensemen and left Kausch out of position.

"We started every period really strong (but) in the second period, we let off the gas a little bit and that's where a team can get some life," Ratzlaff said. "It's a matter of being intentional with every shift, every pass, every battle, and we just need to carry that mindset throughout."

Flames junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster — seeing his first game action of the spring semester due to injury — cashed in on a power play at the 14:26 mark of the second period, slamming home a give-and-go return pass from Shields from deep in the left crease off a secondary assist from junior defenseman Laz Kaebel to stretch the edge to 6-2.

"Having Sam back, I feel for the guy because he's missed so much time," Ratzlaff said. "He works his butt off on and off the ice and for him to get rewarded with a goal there is just a feather in his cap. To have him back with the leadership that he brings is huge."

Feamster nearly jammed in another scoring opportunity moments later from right in front before the Panthers pounced on the other end, with Pazo scoring from point-blank range on another power play in the left crease after Kausch was taken out by a Pitt forward crashing backwards over his pads in front of the cage.

The Flames responded just over a minute later, however, on an odd-man rush sprung by sophomore forward Mason Smith. He chased down the puck along the left wing and crossed it in front for freshman forward Michael DeBrito, who found Essenmacher in the left crease for a backhanded finish.

DeMars, the First Star of the Game for the Flames, put an exclamation point on the win by taking the puck from Cox and Shields out of the neutral zone and skating into the high slot before sniping a shot through a screen from a Pitt defenseman under the crossbar with 12 seconds to play.

"DeMars has been so good for us lately," Ratzlaff said. "He's been so good all year honestly and he's getting rewarded now."

Liberty improves to 8-0 in recent clashes with Pitt, and the two teams will conclude the series Saturday with the puck again dropping at 7 p.m. in the LIC.

The Flames are hoping to use their home stretch to improve their seeding as they prep for a return to St. Louis from March 13-18 with great chemistry from a blend of freshmen and upperclassmen.

"We have nationals right around the corner, three games left after tonight," Ratzlaff said. "Obviously having a veteran presence has been great with Jackson (Vercellono), (Jacob) Kalandyk, and Truett (Olson) and all of our seniors and older guys have been good, and the freshmen have really stepped into a good role. For us to have that confidence, especially going into nationals, we can confidently put four lines out there in any point in the game."

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