No. 4 Flames doubled in shots by No. 3 Bobcats, who deliver 5-4 OT setback

Friday, February 21

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Ohio University

Senior forward Jacob Kalandyk fires a shot on Ohio goalie Scott Bird in Friday night's opener against Ohio at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Emily Cuthrell))

No. 4 Flames doubled in shots by No. 3 Bobcats, who deliver 5-4 OT setback

2/21/2025 11:42:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Photo Gallery

Liberty will look to salvage a series split, and even the all-time series at 24, by sending its six graduating players out with a win on Senior Night in the LIC.

Gallery: (2-21-2025) DI men's hockey vs. Ohio Game 1

Playoff-level intensity prevailed as Liberty University's No. 4-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team met No. 3 Ohio University for the fifth time this season, Friday night in front of a near sell-out College For A Weekend crowd at the LaHaye Ice Center.

The Bobcats (18-4-3) outshot the Flames (22-5-5) by a 52-25 margin and seized a 24-23 lead in the all-time series with a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory.

"These are the types of games that we're going to play at (the March 13-18 ACHA DI National Championships near St. Louis), so it's good preparation, but a tough one to lose in overtime," Liberty freshman forward Kal Essenmacher said. "It's always good to play a rival, and it's always a chippy game against Ohio. It's good to go through adversity like this because you never know what you're going to see at nationals."

Ohio forward Laker Aldridge started the scoring with a wraparound goal inside the right post with 13:38 to play in the first period after Liberty sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch made an initial save at the left post.

Liam Cox-Smith netted the equalizer from close range at the 10:04 mark on a fantastic backhanded assist through traffic across the slot from fellow Flames freshman forward Tucker Shields.

Ohio reclaimed the lead with 1:42 left in the first when Drake Albers, stationed in front, deflected TJ Richey's shot from the high slot between Flames defensemen and through the five hole of Kausch.

Senior forward and alternate captain Truett Olson capitalized on an odd-man rush to tie the game at 2 with 17:53 to play in the second period, receiving feeds from freshman forward Mac Ratzlaff and senior defenseman Kevin Bite and beating former Flames recruit Scott Bird (21 saves) with a backhanded shot through the slot.

Moments later, Kausch (47 saves) held his ground while three Bobcats crashed the cage in front, knocking him into the net but not managing to push the puck across the goal line. Cox-Smith was called for a penalty for interference on the play, however, putting Ohio back on a power play.

As the Flames were closing in on a penalty kill, Albers punched in a putback of a fast-break attack by the Bobcats from deep in the left crease off the second of three assists from linemate Mathieu Ovaert, lifting Ohio to a 3-2 lead at the 14:27 mark.

Kausch made a few spectacular stops midway through the period, diving to make a glove save of a shot from the right circle before smothering a rebound in front after a Bobcat lifted a breakaway opportunity over the cage.

"Konrad, we don't give him enough credit here," Essenmacher said. "Whether it looked like it or not, he stood on his head tonight and it wouldn't have been close if we didn't have him in there."

Ohio went back on the power play in the final 1:53 when Liberty junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau was called for holding on another breakaway and the Bobcats quickly capitalized when Noah Abraham ripped a top-shelf wrist shot from the high slot for a 4-2 advantage.

Less than a minute later, Ohio again got the benefit of a questionable call when Shields was called for crosschecking in defense of Kausch, who was taken down on the play.

The Flames killed off that penalty at the start of the third period and generated some decent scoring opportunities of their own, with sophomore forward Ryan Finch striking a post with his shot through the slot and senior forward Jacob Kalandyk being denied on a couple quality chances.

Liberty was unable to capitalize on a power play midway through the period, but soon after that penalty expired, freshman forward Kal Essenmacher took a beautiful backhand feed from graduate center Jackson Vercellono and lifted a wrist shot into the upper netting to trim the deficit to 4-3 with 7:36 remaining in regulation.

"That was a really great play by Jackson," Essenmacher said. "I don't know how he found me on his backhand, but I was just in the right place at the right time and it was a great pass by him. It was a great shift, and when you apply pressure for 20-30 seconds beforehand, you're probably going to get a good chance out of it."

In the final 2:45, Liberty freshman forward Hayden DeMars launched a missile of a shot just over the crossbar. The Flames pulled Kausch for the final 45 seconds to gain a man advantage and took a timeout with 38 seconds to go.

Kalandyk's shot from the point was blocked by Bird, but he got it back in the high slot and dished it to Pomerleau, who set up Vercellono for a shot from the left boards. Olson, slicing into the left crease, redirected the puck into the back of the net to knot it at 4 with 16.3 seconds left, forcing overtime.

"That was huge for Olson," Essenmacher said. "He's been so clutch for us this whole year in those last 30 seconds. He really turns it on. There's not really a set play when it's 6-on-5. You want to throw everything to the net and hope it works."

With the teams skating 3-on-3, Ovaert cashed in on the game-winner through the five hole off a fast-break feed from Abraham just 31 seconds into the 5-minute sudden-death overtime.

Liberty will honor its six graduating players — senior defensemen Nate Cox and Kevin Bite as well as Vercellono and senior forwards Aleksandr Charin and alternate captains Kalandyk and Olson — before Saturday's Senior Night rematch, when the puck again will drop at 7 p.m. for the last time this season in the LIC.

"The seniors have been such great leaders here … who have all made an impact," Essenmacher said. "I've loved every single one of them. They're all great, special people and I want to go out and win it for them so bad."

He said the Flames' top line of Vercellono, Kalandyk, and Olson will be especially hard to replace.

"They've been some of the top dogs this year and still sometimes don't get enough credit," Essenmacher said. "I respect them so much for their play style on the ice, but more importantly I feel like they've been great leaders off the ice, whether it's in the gym or spiritually, they've all been great. I've loved having them as leaders here and it's going to be sad not to have them next year."

In order to turn the tables on Ohio, Essenmacher said the Flames will need to keep their emotions in check and execute their game plan from the first puck drop to the final buzzer.

"It's obviously going to be an emotional game, but we're going to need to control those emotions as best as we can so we don't get a lot of penalties again," he said. "Hopefully, we can harness it and play a good hard game for a full 60 minutes. Ohio's a really good competitor, but if we bring a full 60 minutes from the start, I think we're unstoppable."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer