No. 4 Flames survive and advance past No. 5 Jamestown, 5-2; set to meet UNLV in Final Four

Sam Feamster goal celebration Jamestown bench — Flames junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster celebrates one of his two power-play goals in front of the Jamestown bench.

For the third time in five years, Liberty University's No. 4-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team is headed to the Final Four of the National Championships.

The Flames (25-5-5) reclaimed the lead early in the third period before withstanding an onslaught of offensive chances by No. 5 Jamestown (24-9-2) and tacking on two insurance goals in the final three minutes for a 5-2 triumph, Sunday afternoon at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.

"I really liked our fight, and (sophomore goalie Konrad) Kausch made some great saves for us," Liberty 25th-year Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "Give our guys a lot of credit. It was a great team effort today, and we had great production from up and down the lineup."

The Flames will challenge No. 2 UNLV (29-5-3) in Monday's 5:45 p.m. EST semifinal in the Centene Center's USA Arena, streamed live on FloHockey.tv. In the second semifinal, set for 9 p.m., No. 1-seeded Minot State (39-4-3) will play defending national champion Adrian (Mich.) College (32-3-2), which overcame an early 2-0 deficit to end No. 3 Ohio University's season at nationals for a fourth straight season, 5-2.

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Against Jamestown (24-13-2), Liberty got on the scoreboard first with 3:35 left in the first period when junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster cut along the left endline into the crease and received freshman forward Tucker Shields' assist from inside the left circle. He pivoted with the puck and pocketed his wrist shot into the top-right corner of the cage for a power-play goal and 1-0 Flames advantage.

Jamestown netted the equalizer by capitalizing on its second power-play opportunity with 9:19 to play in the second period when Zane McDonald tipped Kaleb Percival's high shot from the high slot past Kausch into the top-right corner of the net.

But Feamster put Liberty back on top with 1:18 left in the second by converting the Flames' second of four power-play opportunities with a spectacular sequence of passes.

Feamster won the offensive zone faceoff to Shields, and freshman defenseman Michael Adamek won the puck back near the red line and sent it to sophomore forward Mason Smith at the top of the right circle. Smith fed it back to Adamek in the high slot before spotting Feamster open in the right crease for a backhanded finish into the top-left corner and a 2-1 Liberty lead.

Just 51 seconds into the third period, the Jimmies tied it at 2 on the game's first goal scored at even strength, with Brad Fortin netting an open putback of a breakaway shot by Keaton Cline that beat Kausch blocker-side off the left post.

After Jamestown goalie Brandon Waere repelled freshman forward Michael DeBrito's sharp-angled shot from the right boards, Adamek put a backhander on net from the high slot that bounced out to Smith. He sent a rebound out of the left corner into traffic in front, and the puck deflected off Waere's skate into the back of the net, lifting Liberty to a 3-2 lead at the 17:45 mark.

Junior defenseman Laz Kaebel and sophomore defenseman Luke Anderson had scoring chances for the Flames midway through the period, with shots from the high slot and the left circle. Moments later, just under the 10:00 mark, Kausch made a phenomenal save, sprawling into the butterfly stance to block Jamestown leading scorer Jordan Baranesky's shot in the right crease off Thomas' pass out of the slot.

Just over a minute later, the Jimmies worked a three-on-two break and defenseman Griffin Bourassa slid a puck through to Cline in the left crease where Kausch blocked the angle, and the shot veered across the slot. A minute after that, Kausch blocked Chase Visser's deflection of a shot by forward Carter Johnson through the slot before dodging a bullet with the rebound barely eluding Visser in front of an open net. Then, Bourassa took a centering pass from Johnson in the high slot and had his shot gloved by Kausch at the 6:39 mark.

Liberty goal celebration between benches — Freshman defenseman Michael Adamek (2) joins a third-period Liberty goal celebration.

After outshooting the Jimmies 14-9 in the first period and 14-7 in the second, the Flames were outshot in the third 19-13 but still held a 41-35 advantage for the contest, and Kausch played a stellar game with 33 saves.

Flames sophomore forward Ryan Finch and Feamster put quality shots on net less than a minute later on the other end, saved by Waere.

Then, Liberty mounted a counterattack with Liam Cox-Smith clearing the puck out of the defensive zone and working a give-and-go with fellow freshman forward Hayden DeMars. He sent Cox-Smith a return pass across the slot before batting the rebound of a shot from the right crease out of the air past Waere for his first insurance score with 2:39 to play.

"That was a great goal," Handy said. "DeMars hit the puck mid-air, and it went in off the post."

After Jamestown killed off a penalty and pulled Waere for the final minute and a half, DeMars iced the victory with an empty netter on a breakout charge with 42.5 seconds remaining.

Handy said the Flames' work is not done as they continue their quest for a first national championship in program history.

"At the end of the day, we are thankful that God has given us an opportunity to play another day," Handy said. "It is tough to get to the Final Four, and we have to keep going. At this point, they're all good teams, and you just have to win games. Every game is going to be tougher than the one before."

UNLV holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series, last splitting four games in the 2022-23 season, with the Flames winning both in Las Vegas in the fall and the Skating Rebels sweeping the spring semester rematch at the LaHaye Ice Center. This season, UNLV upset reigning NCAA Division I national champion University of Denver in overtime. Liberty last won against the Rebels, 3-1 in Boston in March 2023, a national quarterfinals rematch of a 4-2 setback in St. Louis the year before.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Liberty-Jamestown prayer huddle quarterfinals — Jamestown players join in a prayer huddle following Sunday's game at center ice in the Centene Commuinity Ice Center's USA Arena.

No. 4 Flames survive and advance past No. 5 Jamestown, 5-2; set to meet UNLV in Final Four

Players Mentioned

Michael Adamek

Luke Anderson

Liam Cox-Smith

Hayden DeMars

Ryan Finch

Tucker Shields

Mason Smith

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