Lady Flames senior forwards and captains Zosia Adamek (A) and Brielle Fussy (C) accounted for six of Liberty's seven goals against Jamestown. (File photos by Jessie Jordan)
DI Lady Flames shut out Gophers, Jimmies to reach Saturday’s WMCH final
2/21/2025 8:55:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey
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Top-ranked Liberty will play the winner between No. 2-seeded Maryville and No. 5 Minot State as it looks for its fifth title in six seasons in the conference at 1 p.m.
Pursuing its fifth WMCH Tournament Championship in the six seasons of the league's existence, Liberty University's No. 1-ranked ACHA Division I women's hockey team used a natural hat trick by senior forward and head captain Brielle Fussy to open a 3-0 lead en route to a 7-0 semifinal triumph over Jameston (N.D.) University, Friday afternoon at the MetroRecPlex in O'Fallon, Ill.
The win sends the Lady Flames (20-3) to Saturday's 2 p.m. EST final against the winner of Friday's other semifinal between No. 2 Maryville (Mo.) and No. 5 Minot State (N.D.), teams that dealt Liberty two of its three losses this season.
"We performed really well, and established that we are playoff-ready," Lowes said, noting the game will be streamed live on McKendree's GLVC Sports Network. "Our girls looked hungry and dialed in, and we know it is going to take our best effort (Saturday), whether we get Maryville or Minot State. Both are top-five teams and are really good. We want to bring that (WMCH) trophy back to Liberty and that is our next goal on the list. We need to have our best 60 minutes of hockey tomorrow."
Jamestown (8-16-7) upset No. 3-seeded tournament host McKendree (Ill.) University (24-5-2) in Thursday's first round, 3-2, before the Lady Flames routed No. 8 Minnesota, 9-0. Liberty had blanked Jamestown 6-0 in a WMCH Showcase game played Nov. 9 at the Maryville (Mo.) University Ice Center.
"(The Jimmies) were coming off a huge upset and they played us really closely in the first period," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said, noting Fussy netted the game's first goal off an assist from junior forward Brookelyn Beauchamp on a power play with 2:49 to play. "The second period was huge for us to put up four more and really take control of the game."
Senior linemate Zosia Adamek scored twice, the first at the second-period buzzer off a two-on-one break set up by a backdoor pass from sophomore forward Sienna McClinchey and the second early in the third period off the third of four assists from sophomore defenseman Sophia Adamek. Sophomore defenseman Sophia Adamek assisted four of the Lady Flames' seven scores against Jamestown in Friday's semifinals.
Senior defenseman Madison Glynn scored Liberty's fourth goal off an assist from senior forward Haley Battles. Junior defenseman and fellow alternate captain Emerson Oakes capped the scoring on the Lady Flames' second successful power play in as many chances.
"Our veterans really produced, which was very encouraging," Lowes said. "Sophia (Adamek is) really gifted around the net offensively, so it doesn't surprise me that she's finding the girls and finding those lanes (for assists)."
Liberty outshot Jamestown, 38-20, and junior goalie Alex Keith made 20 saves to record her second shutout of the season.
"We took four penalties and they had some power-play chances, a few odd-man rushes, and a couple other quality offensive opportunities," Lowes said. "The first period was as tight as it gets, and they had some really good scoring chances that Keith made big saves on when she needed to. Once we got rolling offensively, things really shaped up."
In Thursday night's late quarterfinal matchup against No. 8-seeded Minnesota, Liberty grounded the Gophers 9-0 to advance to the semifinal showdown with Maryville. The Lady Flames outshot Minnesota by a 45-16 margin, breaking open a 1-0 contest by adding four goals in the second period and four more in the third.
Presley Ellis scored the only goal in the first period and added a second late in the second off an assist from fellow freshman forward Hayley Lee as Liberty netted three goals in the final three minutes. Senior forward Isabella Hervert also tallied twice, padding the Lady Flames' lead to 5-0 in the final 47 seconds of the second period and 7-0 with 3:31 remaining in the third before Lee stretched it to 8-0 less than a minute later off assists from Ellis and senior defenseman Peyton Carle, her second of the game.
All four of Liberty's captains also scored once — Battles, Zosia Adamek, Fussy, and Oakes, on a power play early in the third period off an assist from Beauchamp.
Lady Flames freshman goalie Brooklyn Adams made 16 saves to record her third shutout in six starts, lowering her goals-against average to 0.67.
