Lady Flames prove more eager than Beavers, retain WMCH Tournament crown

Saturday, February 22

O'Fallon, IL

1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM ET

Liberty University Club Sports

Minot State University

Lady Flames freshman Hayley Lee controls the puck against Minot State in their series at the LaHaye Ice Center on Nov. 21. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)

Lady Flames prove more eager than Beavers, retain WMCH Tournament crown

2/22/2025 5:59:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey

Senior head captain and leading scorer Brielle Fussy gave the Flames an early lead before freshman forward Presley Ellis netted the game winner as Liberty won its fifth title in six years.

Presley Ellis Liberty Minot State — Lady Flames freshman forward Presley Ellis netted her 10th goal of the season, the game winner midway through the second period.

Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team, ranked No. 1 in the nation and seeded first in the WMCH Tournament, captured its fifth title in the six seasons since the league was formed in 2019 by edging Minot State (N.D.) University in a rematch of last season's ACHA Division I National Championship semifinal, Saturday afternoon at the McKendree MetroRecPlex in O'Fallon, Ill.

Last March near St. Louis, Minot State ended the Lady Flames' record five-season run as ACHA DI national champions with a 2-1 double-overtime upset. On Saturday, after winning two of three games in a series at the LaHaye Ice Center in late November, Liberty (21-3) turned the tables on the Beavers (23-8-3) with a 2-1 triumph.

"It was a really good game," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "Minot State has quickly become one of our biggest rivals and toughest matchups. This was our fourth time playing them this season and we found a way. They ended our season last year at nationals, and three years ago in the WMCH final, we beat them in overtime. We are super excited for our team to check this box and move on (to nationals)."

Liberty will undoubtedly be the No. 1 seed going into the March 17-21 National Championships back in the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo., where the Lady Flames will contend for a seventh national title in program history, all since 2015.

The WMCH has emerged as the best conference in the nation, boasting five of the top six ranked teams. The No. 5-seeded Beavers advanced to the final by upsetting No. 4 Midland (Neb.) University in Thursday's quarterfinals and No. 2 Maryville (Mo.) University in Friday's semifinals, erasing a 2-1 third-period deficit in a 3-2 win.

Liberty, which topped Midland, 3-2, to reclaim the crown from the Warriors in last season's WMCH final in Lynchburg, Va., dominated No. 8 Minnesota, 9-0 in Thursday's quarterfinals, and No. 6 Jamestown, 7-0 in Friday's semifinals, to return to the championship game.

In Saturday's final, Liberty struck first with 15:05 left in the first period when senior forward and alternate captain Zosia Adamek won a right-circle faceoff back to senior defenseman Madison Glynn. Glynn fired a shot from the top of the right circle that was blocked by Beavers goalie Jilian Ackerman before senior forward and head captain Brielle Fussy put away the putback from point-blank range for her 15th goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage.

Minot netted the equalizer with 15 seconds remaining in the period when Journey Miller caught Lady Flames goalie Alex Keith out of position after retrieving the puck from behind the cage and Miller stole it back near the right post and tucked it in.

Presley Ellis converted the game winner off a fast-break feed from fellow Lady Flames freshman forward Hayley Lee, lifting a right-circle wrist shot over the shoulder of Ackerman for her 10th goal of the season to give Liberty to a 2-1 lead with 1:34 left in the second period.

"Ellis is having a great year and for her to get the game winner as a freshman, that's exciting," Lowes said. "You expect your veterans to thrive, but to see our newcomers play such big roles was encouraging."

"We were quite happy with the body language and the temperament of our team in a really tough game," he added. "The third period was scoreless, but we kept our foot on the gas to the end."

The Lady Flames outshot the Beavers 37-20 for the contest and Keith made 19 saves to earn the win in net, improving to 12-3 and lowering her goals-against average below 1.40 per game.

"Alex played a great game in net for us, and we did enough offensively against a sound defensive team," Lowes said. "On the defensive side of the puck, not just our D corps, but the entire team was defending very tough. It was a physical game, with tight checking. We were really happy with what we saw for this time of year, to play a 60-minute game."

As the team embarked on its bus trip back to Lynchburg, Lowes noted it was three weeks to the day that it will be on its way back to the St. Louis area.

"We have three full weeks of practice to figure out a game plan for that," he said. "We don't talk about nationals until now, one step at a time."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer