Flames’ fourth Final Four appearance doesn’t end well in 5-2 loss to Rebels

Gallery: (3-17-2025) DI men's hockey vs. UNLV

A five-goal outburst by No. 2-seeded UNLV in the final 10 minutes of Monday night's ACHA Division I men's hockey semifinal turned a 2-0 lead by No. 4 Liberty University into a shocking 5-2 season-ending setback in the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.

"It just got away from us there at the end," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We didn't want to sit back, and maybe we were a little guilty of it (at times). That's not the way you want to lose, but it's part of (the process)."

"I liked the way we battled throughout the game still, but we had too many times where we were letting them come to us instead of trying to take it to them," Liberty junior forward and head captain Sam Feamster added.

The Flames (25-6-5) netted the game's first goal just 18 seconds after the opening faceoff when sophomore forward Ryan Finch took a pass from junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau at the top of the right circle and launched a rocket of a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the net for a 1-0 Liberty lead.

UNLV turned up its intensity and kept the Flames on their heels for much of the rest of the first period with some aggressive hits, including a flagrant one on sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch. He made a blocker save of a shot from the top of the left circle and a glove save of a high shot before a UNLV player charged the goal while closely guarded by a Liberty defenseman and plowed directly into Kausch.

The full-force body check knocked him into the back of the net with no penalty assessed, even after the Rebels forward taunted the Liberty bench on the way back to his own.

Kausch shook off the hard hit and seemed unfazed, if not more resolved, making some stellar saves throughout the rest of the period.

Feamster took two hard checks, the first against the boards in the right corner and second along the UNLV bench — much to the Rebels' delight even though that hit resulted in a two-minute penalty. Feamster had the best scoring opportunity on the power play, taking a pass in the left crease as he cut toward the cage, but his wrist shot was saved by UNLV goalie Jeremy Forman.

The Rebels (30-5-3) nearly netted the equalizer on an odd-man rush with less than five minutes to play in the first period but Bradley Golant's shot from the right crease veered just wide right. They went on a power play moments later and generated some quality shots on goal, including one blocked by Feamster in the high slot and another glove save by Kausch in the lower left corner of the cage.

UNLV had an apparent score disallowed by a goalie interference call at the 15:37 mark of the second period after Kausch was hit again in the blue ice. The Flames stayed on the defensive, however, as they had for most of the first, and went on the penalty kill after a fast-break collision and crosschecking call against freshman forward Liam Cox-Smith around the red line.

After killing all but 10 seconds of the penalty, the Rebels were called for crosschecking as well, putting the Flames on theman advantage for 1:50. But UNLV mounted a better chance shorthanded than Libertycould muster on the power play. Liberty freshman forwards Tucker Shields and Hayden DeMars launched shots on goal from the top of the left and right circles before Feamster gathered the rebound in the slot but could not get a shot off as the Rebels completed another penalty kill.

UNLV nearly scored on a wraparound in the final 10 seconds, with Kausch smothering the loose puck in front before the Rebels were awarded a penalty shot for a Flames player in the crease. Liberty clung to its 1-0 lead going into the second intermission when Dylan Jensen's one-on-one attempt from the right crease got past Kausch but struck off the post and crossbar before it caromed out.

The Flames, who were outshot 25-9 in the second period, started the third on the offensive end capitalized on an odd-man rush at the 16:14 mark when a quick passing sequence from Cox-Smith to DeMars set up Feamster for a wide-open finish in front.

After another successful penalty kill by UNLV, Flames freshman forward Mac Ratzlaff stole the puck near the Rebels blue line and went in for a shot blocked by Forman.

Kausch made a nice kick save of a shot toward the lower-right corner before UNLV ended his shutout bid with 9:19 remaining in regulation when forward Heath Mensch sent a pass from behind the cage to Golant in the slot and he cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Moments later, UNLV capitalized on the equalizer when Oliver Band received feeds from Mason Kelly and Jensen and ripped a shot through traffic into the back of the net at the 7:45 mark.

"I don't think Konrad saw it," Feamster said. "They battled pretty hard at the end there. We were in a good spot and we just made two or three mistakes in our own D zone that led to the puck in the back of our net."

"Konrad's been a stud for us and he played his heart out for us," Handy added. "I know there were a couple he probably wants back."

Then, with 2:34 to go, Mensch got the go-ahead goal on a powerful shot by Mensch assisted by Golant and Preston Brodziak before the Rebels netted their fourth goal in just over seven minutes six seconds after the ensuing faceoff. Before Kausch could make it off the ice to try to give the Flames an extra skater, Broadziak maneuvered the puck around him on a breakaway for the final score at the 1:14 mark.

"Most sports have momentum swings, but in hockey, it can be severe if you don't address it with how you respond," Boettger said. "Even after the first goal and second goal, we all felt good and we felt confident at the time. We actually hit a post and there were more opportunities for us to make it 3-2 and it just didn't go that way. It's not like we caved. We were still pushing. They wore us down. I think they wore Konrad down just by the way they play and how heavy they are in front of the net. But he's fantastic and he played super well all year."

UNLV outshot the Flames by a 56-35 final margin and Kausch made 51 saves as he fell to 16-3-2 in his rookie season after transferring from NCAA Division III St. Mary's (Minn.) University.

The loss brought an end to the Liberty Hockey careers of six players — the top line of senior Jacob Kalandyk and graduates Jackson Vercellono and Truett Olson as well as defensemen Nate Cox and Kevin Bite and forward Aleksandr Charin.

"I love every single one of those guys and it hurts that it kind of ended like this, but for our team to still battle and get to the top four was awesome," Feamster said. "I love those guys and everything they brought for four years. I got to play with them for three and have learned a lot from each one."

"I'd take these men to run into the fire any time," Handy added. "They're warriors and guys who have been a big part of our team. The six guys who are leaving, the spiritual legacy they've left is awesome. It was disappointing that we didn't get the win, but I'm a firm believer in what we're doing here with our team and our program (and) I just know God's at work here in what He's doing."

Feamster said the loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of the returning players.

"We have a lot of good leaders returning in that room and I know we're going to have strong leadership going into next year again," he said. "At this point we're not satisfied until we get the job done fully. That's always the motivation, whether we win it or not, you want to come back and just be the best every single year."

"It's a crazy ride, crazy ride all year long and to make the Final Four is pretty tough," Handy added. "This group will get over the top. I think we'll get it done with this group. We've got guys returning and we're going to add some pieces and we're going to be in a good spot."

UNLV advances to meet defending national champion Adrian (Mich.) College in a rematch of last year's final on Tuesday at 8 p.m. back in the USA Arena. The No. 6-seeded Bulldogs upset No. 1 Minot State, 4-0, in Monday's second semifinal after netting five unanswered goals to erase a 2-0 deficit and oust No. 3 Ohio for the fourth nationals tournament in a row in Sunday's quarterfinals, 5-2.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Flames’ fourth Final Four appearance doesn’t end well in 5-2 loss to Rebels

Players Mentioned

Kevin Bite

Aleksandr Charin

Liam Cox-Smith

Hayden DeMars

Ryan Finch

Jacob Kalandyk

Konrad Kausch

Truett Olson

Mac Ratzlaff

Tucker Shields

Jackson Vercellono

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