Lady Flames dominant in pool play, plucking Purple Eagles 6-1 to return to semis for 12th nationals in a row

Gallery: (3-19-2025) DI women vs. Niagara

Liberty University's top-seeded Division I women's hockey team powered past Niagara University in Tuesday night's second round of the ACHA National Championships nearly as decisively as it had against Grand Canyon the night before. The Lady Flames (23-3) prevailed over the Purple Eagles (11-11-2) at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, Mo., 6-1 despite withstanding some punishing hits.

Liberty started the scoring 42 seconds after the opening faceoff and converted its last three goals on the power play — the final two in the opening 42 seconds of the third period — to finish 2-0 in its pool and advance to Thursday's 5 p.m. EST semifinal back at the Centene Community Ice Center's USA Arena against WMCH rival Midland (Neb.) University, streamed live by FloHockey.tv.

The Lady Flames outshot the Purple Eagles, 75-28, and took only three penalties compared to nine assessed to Niagara.

"We produced a lot on the power play tonight," Lady Flames Assistant Coach Mike Morrison said. "We were trying to run different systems and trying different looks and they did a great job with it. We told the girls before nationals that special teams would be very important — power play and penalty kill. Every (forward) line's producing, doing exactly what they need to do, and the girls are excited to play, and it shows out there. They really want another championship."

ACHA National Tournament Logo 2025

It is the 12th season in a row Liberty has reached the Final Four at nationals. With a victory over the No. 4 Warriors, the Lady Flames would return to the championship game after winning an ACHA-record five consecutive titles from 2018 — Head Coach Chris Lowes' first season at the helm — through 2023.

No. 2 Maryville, the only team to defeat Liberty this spring on Jan. 30, will meet No. 3 reigning national champion Adrian (Mich.) College in Thursday's 2 p.m. EST semifinal showdown. Friday's final will be streamed live at 1 p.m. EST from Centene's USA Arena.

"We're excited," Morrison said. "We're looking forward to it. These girls are ready. We work all year for this and to get to the semis at any level is a job well done, but hopefully, we'll get to the finals. Every team at this level, as soon as you get to the semis, it's anyone's game, so you've just got to make sure that you're focused on your systems, your (defensive zone) and what you've been working toward all year."

Against Niagara, the Lady Flames started the scoring less than a minute into the action when sophomore forward Ellie Sarauer snuck a wraparound shot inside the left post past Niagara goalie Mackenzie Addley.

"The energy is just so high and we all get so excited," said Liberty junior defenseman and alternate captain Emerson Oakes, who was named the player of the game by her teammates. "We got one right off the bat very quickly and that carried through the rest of the game, and we kept our composure and we kind of built on our energy throughout the entire game, attacking on odd-man rushes and getting pucks on the net."

Oakes doubled the advantage at the 9:17 mark of the first period, taking a pass off a faceoff win by freshman forward Tristan Craig and launching a shot from the top of the left circle into the back of the net.

Less than two minutes later, Sarauer sent a pass from the right circle into senior forward and head captain Brielle Fussy for a shot in the left crease that was blocked by Addley right to fellow senior forward and alternate captain Zosia Adamek, who snuck a backhanded putback past the goalie at the 7:38 mark.

"At the start of the game, we really wanted to just be offensive," Morrison said. "We were telling the girls, 'We want to make sure on every transition we're trying to attack the net,' and we saw that in the first couple of goals with quick transitions, shots on net, rebounds, pucks squeaking through and girls getting in there quick. That was our focus right off the start."

Niagara's Faith Burtnick ended Liberty junior goalie Alex Keith's shutout bid by launching a shot from the outside of the left circle near her bench into the top-left corner of the cage, trimming the deficit to 3-1 with 8:34 left in the second period.

But the Lady Flames capitalized on a power play with 2:58 to play in the period when senior defenseman Madison Glynn — who was knocked down by a Purple Eagles defenseman, prompting the penalty — received a pass near the blue line from senior forward Haley Battles and fired a shot from the high slot through traffic, beating Addley to the lower-left corner.

Then in the third, the Lady Flames scored twice more with a player advantage in the first 42 seconds, the first coming seven seconds after the opening faceoff when sophomore defenseman Sophia Adamek received Sarauer's feed from the left wing as she skated down the slot and tucked a backhand around Addley to extend the edge to 5-1. Just 35 seconds later, Zosia Adamek deflected Jules Lefaive's shot from the high slot through the five hole for a commanding 6-1 lead, all but icing the victory with nearly a full period to play.

Keith shut the Purple Eagles out in the third, finishing with 27 saves and improving to 14-3 on the year.

"We ended their season and it's a tough game for them to play," Morrison said. "There were emotions, the same with us, so we just wanted to stay calm and not retaliate and make sure that we're healthy to battle in the semis. We just didn't want to do anything stupid. So we went in after the second and just said, 'Hey girls, calm down. Just relax and let's get back to our game plan.'"

"Both games (in pool play) were definitely physical tests, and it just teaches us to keep our composure even more and just play our game and we always come out on top," Oakes added.

The Lady Flames will enjoy a much-needed day of rest on Wednesday before Thursday's semifinal showdown with Midland, which eliminated Minot State in their final game of pool play on Tuesday.

Liberty won its only meeting with the Warriors this season in a Nov. 6 opener of the Maryville Showcase in Chesterfield, 4-1. All four of the Lady Flames' goals in that game came on special teams — the first shorthanded by Zosia Adamek and last three on the power play, by Glynn, Fussy, and Zosia Adamek.

Last season, while ranked No. 1, Liberty was swept by the second-ranked Warriors in Nebraska on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. That marked the first time any team had accomplished that feat against the Lady Flames in more than six seasons. However, Liberty reclaimed its WMCH Tournament Championship from Midland in the final at the LaHaye Ice Center for its fourth title, before winning its fifth in the league's six years of existence 2-1 over Minot State on Feb. 22 at nearby McKendree (Ill.) University.

Liberty had several players recognized by the WMCH on Sunday, before Monday's start of the ACAH DI women's tournament. Zosia Adamek earned All-WMCH First Team along with All-Tournament First Team honors while Fussy was the Tournament MVP. Battles and Glynn also landed on the All-Tournament First Team while Keith and Ellis made the Second Team and Ellis the WMCH All-Rookie Team.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Lady Flames dominant in pool play, plucking Purple Eagles 6-1 to return to semis for 12th nationals in a row

Players Mentioned

Sophia Adamek

Zosia Adamek

Haley Battles

Tristan Craig

Brielle Fussy

Madison Glynn

Jules Lefaive

Emerson Oakes

Ellie Sarauer

Related Videos