Flames to welcome Bobcats, celebrate seniors in final regular-season series before nationals

Friday, February 21

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Ohio University

Liberty senior forward and alternate captain Jacob Kalandyk works alongside graduate center Jackson Vercellono in the Flames' last home game against Ohio on Nov. 9 at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Brooke McDuffee)

Flames to welcome Bobcats, celebrate seniors in final regular-season series before nationals

2/19/2025 3:32:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Liberty will look to build momentum for the March 13-18 National Championships in St. Louis with strong showings against the Bobcats, concluding with Senior Night Saturday.

Truett Olson Liberty Ohio — Graduate forward Truett Olson plays on the Flames' top line along with fellow alternate captain Kalandyk and Vercellono.

What better way for Liberty University's No. 4-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team to end its 2024-25 regular season and prepare for the March 13-18 National Championships near St. Louis than to play a third series against No. 3 Ohio University, one of its closest rivals, on its home ice?

"We have played them four times this season and they have won three of those games, so that is an incentive for us to try to even the series with them," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "But the main motivation is to continue our focus on progressing to where we want to be at the end of the year."

He said the outcome of this weekend's games could set the stage for the postseason, as it did to some extent last season, when the Bobcats won the regular-season finale at Liberty, 4-2. Ohio went on to upset No. 1 Minot State before falling to eventual national champion Adrian (Mich.) College 3-1 in the semifinals, after the Bulldogs had ousted the Flames in the quarterfinals, 4-2.

"It is a huge series for us," Handy said. "When you are playing a team for the fifth and sixth time, both teams know each other pretty well. They will be two great hockey games between two of the top teams in the country."

Liberty will honor its six graduating players — senior defensemen Nate Cox and Kevin Bite as well as graduate center Jackson Vercellono and senior forwards Aleksandr Charin and alternate captains Jacob Kalandyk and graduate Truett Olson — before Saturday's Senior Night rematch.

"These are a wonderful group of seniors who have really created a legacy on and off the ice for our program," Handy said. "I couldn't be more thankful for the time and effort they have put in, and the ways they wanted to leave the program when they graduated. The consistency with which they played the game, and the consistency with which they have lived their lives is inspirational for me."

Scouting Preview, Games 32-33: No. 3 Ohio (17-4-3) at No. 4 Liberty (22-5-4), Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Va. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

All-time series: Ohio tied the series at 22 by sweeping the host Flames on Nov. 8-9, winning the opener 4-3 and the rematch 5-3. Liberty retied it at 23 by splitting the Feb. 7-8 series against the Bobcats at Byrd Arena in Athens, Ohio — dropping the first game 5-2 by allowing three unanswered goals in the third period before rebounding to win Game 2, 3-2 in overtime on a goal by sophomore forward Mason Smith.

Liberty Scouting Report: Liberty has outscored opponents by nearly a two-to-one margin this season, 145-74, including nine shorthanded goals, the fourth most in the nation behind three teams tied with 10. Vercellono (16 goals, including 3 game winners,16 assists) remains atop the Flames' scoring leaders, one point above Hayden DeMars (15G, 4 GWG, 16A) and four more than freshman forward Tucker Shields (11G, 17A).

Junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster (11G, 15A), playing in his first series of the spring semester after recovering from injury, contributed one goal and one assist in the Flames' home series sweep of Pittsburgh, to stay in fourth place among the team's scoring leaders. Junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (1G, 23A) netted his first goal of the season to hold onto a share of fifth place with Smith (10G, 14A).

A trio of freshmen forwards — Liam Cox-Smith (11G, 12A), Kal Essenmacher (11G, 10A), and Mac Ratzlaff (7G, 14A) — rank seventh, eighth, and ninth in scoring, respectively, followed closely by another freshman, Michael DeBrito (7G, 13A), who is tied with junior defenseman Laz Kaebel (8G, 12A) for 10th.

Between the pipes, Liberty has platooned sophomore Konrad Kausch (14-3-1, 1.92 goals-against average, 94.3 save percentage, 3 shutouts) and junior Nick Bernstein (7-3-3, 2.75 GAA, 91.9 SP, 2 SO), who started the overtime win in Game 2 at Ohio.

Ohio Scouting Report: The Bobcats were swept by No. 1-ranked Minot State in their final home series last weekend, falling 7-6 in a shootout in the opener and 3-2 in the rematch. Luc Reeve, who paced ACHA Division I in scoring as a freshman in 2022-23 with 75 points and the Bobcats with 46 points last season, ranks second among Ohio's scoring leaders with 10 goals (including three game winners) and 16 assists. He trails only Mathieu Ovaert (13G, 17A), with fellow forward Drake Albers (9G, 15A) third.

In net, Ohio has platooned three goalies — Max Karlenzig (4-2-1, 2.18 GAA, 91.9 SP, 1 SO), former Liberty recruit Scott Bird (7-1-1, 2.23 GAA, 92.5 SP, 2 SO), and Garrett Alderman (6-1-1, 2.39 GAA, 92.2 SP, 1 SO).

Coaches: Handy is in his 25th season as head coach for the Flames, sporting a career record of 559-227-37. Barry Schutte is in his first season at the helm of the Bobcats after serving as associate head coach at Miami (Ohio) University the previous five seasons.

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