DIII Flames narrowly miss advancing to AAU Final Four in Florida

Sunday, March 23

Jacksonville, FL

7:15 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

St. John Fisher University

DIII men's hockey Mike Williams Ethan Locklear

Liberty graduate forward Michael Williams (20) and defenseman Ethan Locklear (2) skate against St. John Fisher's.

DIII Flames narrowly miss advancing to AAU Final Four in Florida

3/27/2025 4:07:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey

Liberty won its first two games of pool play before falling to St. John Fisher, which went on to lose to defending national champion South Carolina in Tuesday's final.

Needing to win Sunday night's third round of pool play against St. John Fisher (N.Y.) to advance to the Final Four of the AAU Division III National Championships in Jacksonville, Fla., Liberty University's Division III men's hockey team fell, 3-2, snapping its 11-game winning streak and ending the careers of its 11 seniors.

DIII men's hockey in AAU Nationals final game — Flames sophomore forward Zachary Lemons celebrates a goal against the Cardinals.

The No. 1-seeded Flames (18-6) opened an early lead on the sixth-seeded Cardinals (20-3-1) when sophomore forwards Zachary Lemons and Luke Bessire teamed up to force a turnover in the defensive zone, and junior defenseman Ethan Locklear dug it out of the corner back up to Bessire. He flipped a stretch pass up the center of the ice to senior forward Kelly Stroik for a backhanded breakaway finish from deep in the slot inside the left post on the Flames' first shot of game at the 17:06 mark.

Lemons nearly doubled Liberty's lead after skating the puck across the slot toward the right post but was whistled for being in the crease with just under 14:00 left in the period.

Skating 4-on-4, the Cardinals netted the equalizer with 3:11 remaining in the first when Cardinals leading scorer Mateo Torres controlled the puck out of the right corner and whiffed on a shot before threading a pass between the legs of Flames senior defenseman Jake Nole to second-leading scorer Antonio Femia, who was left open in the inside edge of the left circle for a one-timed finish inside the left post.

Less than a minute into the second period, Femia struck again shorthanded off another assist from Torres for a 2-1 lead before Nole netted the equalizer off an assist from Stroik on a power play with 5:58 to play in the period.

However, the Cardinals' Jack McCoy scored the only goal in the third period at even strength with 4:29 remaining in regulation, and the Flames had no answer down the stretch. St. John Francis went on to win its semifinal, 4-1 over Fairfield University before falling to defending national champion South Carolina, 3-0, in Tuesday's final.

"We had a couple of breakdowns that allowed them to have chances and ended up paying for it," Liberty Head Coach Josh Wagner said. "In the other two games (wins over Alvernia and Rowan), we played well. (On Sunday,) we were just missing the net and weren't staying structured like we had been all year. We got away from that, and it cost us."

Overall, Wagner was pleased with the way the team came together this season and peaked for a strong playoff run.

"They did a good job, and I was encouraged by what they did this year," he said. "These were the first two wins at nationals for a very long time, and the first (ACCHL) conference championship in our team's history, so that was good. Being able to get to nationals again this season … It was good competition, (but) we should have won for sure. We had a really solid team, and we were one of the deepest teams there."

Wagner is looking forward to the April 24-26 Liberty Hockey Select Camps at the LaHaye Ice Center, when the Flames' Division I, II, and III men's teams and DI and DII women will look to land commitments from high-level recruits for future seasons.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Noah Richter/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant