DIII Flames cap regular season by sweeping High Point; set for ACCHL tourney this weekend, nationals March 18-25

Friday, February 14

Lynchburg, VA

10:15 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

High Point University

Liberty Division III men's hockey senior defenseman Brayden Sheen clears the puck against Rowan University in a Jan. 24-25 sweep of the Profs at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)

DIII Flames cap regular season by sweeping High Point; set for ACCHL tourney this weekend, nationals March 18-25

2/24/2025 5:26:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey

Liberty is seeded third for the ACCHL 2A tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C., and first for the AAU Division III national championships in Jacksonville, Fla.

Josh Wagner Men's DIII bench — Liberty second-year DII men's hockey Head Coach Josh Wagner looks on from the bench during a recent series at the LaHaye Ice Center.

Liberty University's AAU Division III men's hockey team wrapped up its regular season with an impressive late-night sweep of High Point (N.C.) University on Feb. 14-15 at the LaHaye Ice Center, winning the opener 10-0 and the rematch 8-3.

The Flames (13-5) outshot the Panthers 59-21 in the first game, which started at 10:15 p.m., when freshman goalie Trey Tompkins posted a shutout and assisted the game-winning goal by senior defenseman Jake Nole with 4:34 left in the first period. Nole also scored the game's fifth and final goal of the third period, with 2:35 remaining in regulation.

Eight Liberty players netted single scores — sophomore forward Caleb Burchette, Zachary Lemons (who netted his team-high 16th goal of the season), freshman forward Ryan DeLong, senior defenseman Jeb Boring, freshman forward Josiah Martinez, sophomore forward Ryan Georgopulos, senior forward Luke Bessire, and graduate forward Michael Williams, who scored his 10th of the year and moved into a tie with Lemons for the points lead with 33.

The Flames celebrated their 10 seniors and three graduate students in a Senior Night rematch on Feb. 15 plagued by 23 penalties — 11 on Liberty and 12 on High Point. Senior goalie Kyle Wesbury got the start and made 24 saves, allowing one power-play goal in each period. Liberty put 57 shots on goal and got two goals from both Lemons and Boring and single scores by Martinez, senior defenseman Brayden Sheen, junior defenseman Ethan Locklear on a power play, and junior forward Thomas Mougin, who capped the scoring with 2:47 to play.

Liberty will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to compete in the ACCHL Men's 2A Tournament this weekend. Despite being 10-0 in ACCHL play, Carolina Division leader Liberty is seeded third in the single-elimination tournament behind Capital Division frontrunner York (Pa.) College (6-0 in ACCHL) and Tri-State Division leader Rowan (N.J.) University (6-0) and ahead of No. 4 Eastern Shore Division frontrunner Christopher Newport University (5-1, 15-2 overall).

The Flames receive a first-round bye to Friday's quarterfinal round, when they will face the second-highest seed remaining after Thursday's first-round games between No. 5 Coastal (S.C.) Carolina and No. 12 Charleston (S.C.); No. 6 Appalachian (N.C.) State and No. 11 Stevenson (Md.) University; No. 7 Navy and No. 10 New Jersey; and No. 8 Western Carolina and No. 9 Maryland.

Semifinals are set for Saturday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. before the championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.

The ACCHL tournament will serve as a final tune-up for the Flames before they travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for the March 18-25 AAU Division III National Championships.

Liberty is seeded No. 1 in that 12-team event and will compete in the same Pool A as No. 6 St. John Fisher (N.Y.) University (17-3-1), No. 7 Rowan (14-4-4), and No. 12 Alvernia (Pa.) University (7-8-2).

Pool B includes No. 2 Columbia (D.C.) University (11-6-1), No. 5 Rutgers (N.J.) University (18-5-1), No. 8 Appalachian State (13-8), and No. 11 Tennessee (16-3-1), and Pool C features No. 3 South Carolina (15-0-1), No. 4 Coastal Carolina (7-7), No. 9 Stony Brook (N.Y.) University (17-5), and No. 10 Fairfield (Conn.) University (9-9).

Videos edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media