DIII men’s hockey opens AAU Nationals in Florida 2-0 in pool play

Friday, March 21

Jacksonville, FL

2:15 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Alvernia University

Freshman defenseman Kyle Bowman Liberty Division III men's hockey

Flames freshman defenseman Colin Bowman maneuvers the puck between two Rowan College players in a Liberty spring semester-opening series sweep at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)

DIII men’s hockey opens AAU Nationals in Florida 2-0 in pool play

3/22/2025 11:04:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey

Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

After shutting out Alvernia (Pa.) and Rowan (N.J.) by 4-0 scores on Friday and Saturday, the top-seeded Flames will face John Fischer (N.Y.) on Sunday at 7:15 p.m. with a Final Four berth on the line.

Gallery: (3-22-2025) DIII men's hockey vs. Rowan in rematch

Liberty University's ACHA Division III men's hockey team, seeded No. 1 in the AAU National Championships in Jacksonville, Fla., opened tournament pool play with 4-0 wins over No. 12 Alvernia (Pa.) University on Friday and No. 7 Rowan (N.J.) College on Saturday.

The back-to-back shutouts set the Flames up for a showdown with No. 6 St. John Fisher (N.Y.) University (17-3-1) — which defeated Alvernia 8-2 — on Sunday at 7:15 p.m. for the chance to advance to Monday's semifinals.

Against Rowan, a team the Flames swept in their spring semester-opening series at the LaHaye Ice Center, Liberty (15-5) outshot the Profs (14-5-4) by a 68-35 margin. Sophomore forward Zachary Lemons, the Flames' leading scorer with 22 goals and 17 assists, netted the game's first and last scores — both off assists from senior forward Kelly Stroik midway through the second period and with 1:30 remaining in regulation.

In between, freshman forward Josiah Martinez scored a power-play goal exactly a minute after Lemons' game winner, finishing assists from linemates Thomas Mougin, a junior, and sophomore Caleb Burchett. Then, just 1:48 later, senior defenseman Jake Nole extended Liberty's lead to 3-1 off a feed from graduate forward Michael Williams.

Sophomore goalie Trey Thompkins got the win in net, making 35 saves for the shutout.

Against Alvernia (7-10-2), Liberty again netted three goals in the second period to seized control, with senior goalie Kyle Wesbury keeping the Golden Wolves at bay.

Junior defenseman Ethan Locklear started the scoring unassisted with just 45 seconds left in the first period for the game winner before assisting the first of back-to-back goals by Stroik exactly 1:00 into the second. Stroik struck again shorthanded unassisted at the 6:32 mark before Lemons capped the scoring with another shorthanded goal assisted by senior forward Luke Bessire with 8:08 to play in the period.

Follow the tournament results online and tune into the livestream of Sunday's game on the LI Sports Network.