All five Liberty men’s, women’s hockey teams set to begin national title quests

For the second season in a row and second time in program history, all five of Liberty University's men's and women's hockey teams will be competing in their respective national championships. Liberty's DI and DII men's and women's teams are returning to the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo., near St. Louis to play in the March 13-25 ACHA National Championships. The Flames' DIII men will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., as the No. 1 seed in the AAU Division III National Championships, which starts March 18.

ACHA National Championships logo

Liberty's No. 4-seeded Division I men's hockey team (23-5-5) will play the winner of Thursday's first-round contest between No. 13 Indiana Tech (28-4) and No. 20 Oswego State (N.Y., 20-7-4) on Friday at 11:15 a.m. EST. With a win, the Flames would advance to Sunday's quarterfinal to play the winner between No. 5 Jamestown (N.D., 23-11-3) and a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The Jimmies are awaiting the winner of Thursday's game between No. 21 Delaware (24-12-3) and No. 12 Grand Canyon (15-13-2).

Liberty DI men's hockey practice in St. Louis — Liberty Division I men's hockey players huddle up after their first practice in the Centene Community Ice Center on Wednesday morning.

Flames DI Mens Hockey players huddle St. Louis — Nick Bernstein (left), Jackson Vercellono, Jacob Kalandyk, Ryan Finch, Nick Pomerleau

The Flames held their first practice in St. Louis on Wednesday and will have one more on Thursday before taking the ice for the first official faceoff on Friday.

"We are looking forward to it," Flames 25th-year Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We just want to be the best version of ourselves."

He said having three other Liberty teams playing staggered tournament schedules in St. Louis makes the event all the more exciting.

"It's obviously a huge week, and there is a lot of anticipation about our teams playing in it," Handy said. "It's an honor to have all five teams at the national tournament. We're super proud of the accomplishments of all five teams, their coaching staffs, and student-athletes."

He said the DI Flames, who advanced to the semifinal round of the 2021 and 2023 ACHA National Championships, have familiarity with the venue having played there two of the past three years, while other Liberty teams have frequented the facility even more often.

"(ACHA DII men's Head Coach) Ben (Hughes') team and (ACHA DI women's Head Coach) Chris (Lowes') team come out here quite a bit, and it is very familiar to us, and obviously we feel right at home out here," Handy said.

DI men's hockey goalie Nick Bernstein — Bernstein guards the Flames' cage with protection from sophomore forward Mason Smith and junior defenseman Grant Morton.

Liberty's DI men's team, which is in the hunt for its first national title, was eliminated by Minot State in both 2021 and 2023, when it went on to win its third crown, and in the quarterfinal round by UNLV in 2022 and Adrian, the eventual third-time champion, last March. Minot State is the No. 1 seed this season, followed by No. 2 UNLV and No. 3 Ohio, a four-time national champion.

On Tuesday night, the Flames received a video call from the NHL's Calgary Flames Assistant Coach Brad Larsen, the former head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as FCA Hockey Lead On-Ice Instructor Tim Jackman, who formerly was drafted by the Blue Jackets and had a 10-year career as an NHL defenseman.

"They talked about their experience in the playoffs and gave us great experience and thoughts on how to approach the tournament," said Handy, who regularly participates in an FCA Coaches Bible study call with Larsen and Jackman. "Those guys are awesome, and always available to give any advice that we need."

On Wednesday night, Zach Clinton, a former Liberty baseball player who now serves as vice president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and host of the Built Differently podcast, will talk to the Flames on another video call.

The Liberty University Womens D1 Hockey team takes on the Adrian College Bulldogs in the Lahaye Ice Center on February 14, 2025. (Photo by: Jessie Jordan) — Lady Flames DI women's sophomore defenseman Sophia Adamek distributes an outlet pass against defending champion Adrian College.

The No. 1-ranked DI Lady Flames (21-3) are coming off their fifth WMCH Tournament championship in six seasons. They have also won five of the past six ACHA DI national titles and will contend for a seventh in program history from March 17-21. To put themselves in position to challenge for a seventh title, the Lady Flames will first need to advance out of their pool with wins over No. 12 Grand Canyon on Monday at 8 p.m. at the Centene Center and No. 8 Niagara on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Maryville University Hockey Center to return to the March 20 semifinals and, with a win, to the March 21 championship game.

"Our girls are focused on the big prize, and we've got to go get that done come nationals," said Lowes, who was selected as the ACHA DI Women's Coach of the Year for the third time in the past five seasons. "They are healthy, motivated, and itching to get going again, coming off the (WMCH) conference championship. We need to make sure we keep the compete (level) up in practices, fine-tune details in our systems and team play, and keep riding the momentum."

Mark Padgett Liberty DII men's hockey forward — DII Flames forward Mark Padgett looks to pass on a fast break against MSU-Denver at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Kendall Tidwell)

The Flames' Division II men (19-10-3), the No. 2-ranked team out of the Southeast Region, open pool play on Friday at 12:15 p.m. against St. Thomas (Minn., 20-6-2) before meeting Texas (19-6-4) on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. and Army (18-3-3) on Sunday at 9:15 p.m. If Liberty advances out of its pool, it would play in the semifinals on Monday at 6:30 p.m. with Tuesday's championship game set for 5 p.m.

The Lady Flames' DII women (26-3, ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Region) will be the last to take the ice, with their first game scheduled for March 21 against Mercyhurst (14-6-1), a team they dominated 10-0 on Oct. 29, at 1:45 p.m. They will continue pool play with a match against Villanova (18-7-1), which beat Liberty in the DVCHC championship game to even the season series at 2-2, on Saturday at 1:15 p.m., before concluding it with a contest against Wisconsin (14-2-2) on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.

DII womens hockey Hunter DiGrazia — DII Lady Flames graduate forward Hunter DiGrazia controls the puck along the boards at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Simon Barbre)

Last season, Liberty won its first two games at nationals and barely missed advancing out of its pool to the semifinal round. This year's semifinals are set for March 24 at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. followed by the championship game March 25 at 4 p.m.

Liberty's DIII men's team (16-5), fresh off its first ACCHL tournament championship, will be seeded No. 1 for the 12-team AAU DIII National Championships from March 18-25 in Jacksonville, Fla.

"Playoffs are different than the regular season and no matter what team you're playing, it's going to be a battle," said second-year DIII Men's Head Coach Josh Wagner.

The Flames will compete in the same Pool A as No. 12 Alvernia (Pa.) University (7-8-2), March 21 at 2:15 p.m.; No. 7 Rowan (N.J., 14-4-4), March 22 at 5:15 p.m.; and No. 6 St. John Fisher (N.Y.) University (17-3-1), March 23 at 7:15 p.m. with games streamed live on the LI Sports Network.

>> Follow the tournament action through live streams of all ACHA games on FloHockey.

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

DIII mens hockey cele Michael Williams — DIII Flames graduate forward Michael Williams celebrates a goal with alternate captain Kenny Fogarty (25). (Photo by Ryan Anderson)

All five Liberty men’s, women’s hockey teams set to begin national title quests

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