Saturday, September 13
Lynchburg, VA
7:00 PM
Liberty University Club Sports
1
vs
0
NC State University
Last-minute goal by Flames forward DeBrito burns Icepack in overtime, 1-0
9/13/2025 11:14:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Liberty completed the home-and-home sweep of NC State with red-clad fans from both sides packing the LaHaye Ice Center.
Kindling a fire-and-ice rivalry between Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team and North Carolina State may take time, but with the Southeast quickly becoming a hockey hotbed, the future bodes well for the Flames and Icepack to wage plenty of high-intensity border battles over the next several seasons.
That was the case for Saturday night's rematch in the home-and-home series at the LaHaye Ice Center, with a near-capacity crowd fanning the Flames to a 1-0 overtime triumph to complete the sweep following Friday night's 4-2 victory near Raleigh, N.C.
"The crowd tonight was fantastic," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "The fans had a huge impact on tonight's game. That's huge for us. NC State played two strong games against us, and that's what you want. It's so important to build quality hockey opponents in the South, so it's nice to see."
He said adding regional opponents such as the Icepack and UNC Chapel Hill, which the Flames will host next Friday at 7 p.m., is beneficial to both programs.
"It's a nice road trip," Handy said. "It's two hours; it's not 10 hours. They have a great crowd, a great atmosphere, and that's the fun part about it. You want to have our student-athletes play in great environments, and the last two nights they were in two great environments."
After a scoreless regulation, Flames Michael DeBrito potted the golden goal with 1:13 remaining in the five-minute sudden-death overtime period, receiving a crossing feed from fellow sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith in front of the cage. He lifted the puck over the glove of Icepack goalie Ethan Roberts and off the right post and in for the first game-winning goal of his Liberty career.
"It was a great pass from Liam and a great job by (junior defenseman Nick) Pomerleau keeping the puck in the (offensive) zone," DeBrito said. "It's huge that we got that one in overtime to keep it from going to a shootout. We obviously wanted to get the win in the record book and not a tie."
While holding NC State scoreless on three power-play opportunities, the Flames couldn't capitalize on four of their own.
"Credit to them," DeBrito said. "They did a great job of shutting down our power plays. They were blocking shots like crazy. That's just something we've got to work on this week."
With the teams at even strength after a successful penalty kill in the first period, Flames senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster generated a quality scoring chance on transition, though he narrowly missed  two deflections in front of power-play shots from the perimeter.
Liberty's PK unit successfully killed off two opportunities by the Icepack after penalties assessed to Flames junior forward Mason Smith, with junior goalie Konrad Kausch making a couple clutch saves of shots in front.
The Flames held a 49-13 advantage over the Icepack and Kausch made 13 saves, including a few spectacular ones.
"We outshot them probably (4 to 1) if I had to guess, and it was just a great team win ... probably the best game we've played this year," DeBrito said. "It was a great job by Konrad, getting a shutout tonight. That obviously kept us in it."
Midway through the second period, Flames sophomore forward Hayden DeMars nearly put away a driving backhanded shot from point-blank range, but Roberts snuffed the shot, as he had a couple first-period chances by DeMars.
Kausch preserved the scoreless tie with a clutch save on the other end, smothering a two-on-none breakaway opportunity by NC State sophomore forward Austin Finch, the younger brother of Flames senior forward Ryan Finch, who is also from Raleigh, N.C.
Sophomore forward Tucker Shields had back-to-back shots from the right crease blocked by Roberts in a span of 30 seconds of the third period. Then, Luke Monroe's shot from the same area missed just high, and fellow junior forward Aidan Carney had a wraparound attempt denied by Roberts.Â
"NC State played a great game tonight," Handy said. "Their goalie was fantastic. Great teams find a way to win. It's easy if you get discouraged and down on yourself to not have the mindset that our guys had for 65 minutes tonight. I'm proud of the way our guys battled, and I'll take that effort any time."
He doesn't want to have to count on Kausch and senior goalie Nick Bernstein, who started Friday's game at NC State, to have to stand on their heads to keep the Flames in games, but he has the confident assurance that they will.
"Our goaltending is strong for us every night we're out there, and Konrad played a great game tonight," Handy said. "He's someone who proved last year that he has theatrics for the big games, and he made a huge save for us at the end there to allow us to continue to keep going. Hats off to him."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
Â
That was the case for Saturday night's rematch in the home-and-home series at the LaHaye Ice Center, with a near-capacity crowd fanning the Flames to a 1-0 overtime triumph to complete the sweep following Friday night's 4-2 victory near Raleigh, N.C.
"The crowd tonight was fantastic," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "The fans had a huge impact on tonight's game. That's huge for us. NC State played two strong games against us, and that's what you want. It's so important to build quality hockey opponents in the South, so it's nice to see."
He said adding regional opponents such as the Icepack and UNC Chapel Hill, which the Flames will host next Friday at 7 p.m., is beneficial to both programs.
"It's a nice road trip," Handy said. "It's two hours; it's not 10 hours. They have a great crowd, a great atmosphere, and that's the fun part about it. You want to have our student-athletes play in great environments, and the last two nights they were in two great environments."
After a scoreless regulation, Flames Michael DeBrito potted the golden goal with 1:13 remaining in the five-minute sudden-death overtime period, receiving a crossing feed from fellow sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith in front of the cage. He lifted the puck over the glove of Icepack goalie Ethan Roberts and off the right post and in for the first game-winning goal of his Liberty career.
"It was a great pass from Liam and a great job by (junior defenseman Nick) Pomerleau keeping the puck in the (offensive) zone," DeBrito said. "It's huge that we got that one in overtime to keep it from going to a shootout. We obviously wanted to get the win in the record book and not a tie."
While holding NC State scoreless on three power-play opportunities, the Flames couldn't capitalize on four of their own.
"Credit to them," DeBrito said. "They did a great job of shutting down our power plays. They were blocking shots like crazy. That's just something we've got to work on this week."
With the teams at even strength after a successful penalty kill in the first period, Flames senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster generated a quality scoring chance on transition, though he narrowly missed  two deflections in front of power-play shots from the perimeter.
Liberty's PK unit successfully killed off two opportunities by the Icepack after penalties assessed to Flames junior forward Mason Smith, with junior goalie Konrad Kausch making a couple clutch saves of shots in front.
The Flames held a 49-13 advantage over the Icepack and Kausch made 13 saves, including a few spectacular ones.
"We outshot them probably (4 to 1) if I had to guess, and it was just a great team win ... probably the best game we've played this year," DeBrito said. "It was a great job by Konrad, getting a shutout tonight. That obviously kept us in it."
Midway through the second period, Flames sophomore forward Hayden DeMars nearly put away a driving backhanded shot from point-blank range, but Roberts snuffed the shot, as he had a couple first-period chances by DeMars.
Kausch preserved the scoreless tie with a clutch save on the other end, smothering a two-on-none breakaway opportunity by NC State sophomore forward Austin Finch, the younger brother of Flames senior forward Ryan Finch, who is also from Raleigh, N.C.
Sophomore forward Tucker Shields had back-to-back shots from the right crease blocked by Roberts in a span of 30 seconds of the third period. Then, Luke Monroe's shot from the same area missed just high, and fellow junior forward Aidan Carney had a wraparound attempt denied by Roberts.Â
"NC State played a great game tonight," Handy said. "Their goalie was fantastic. Great teams find a way to win. It's easy if you get discouraged and down on yourself to not have the mindset that our guys had for 65 minutes tonight. I'm proud of the way our guys battled, and I'll take that effort any time."
He doesn't want to have to count on Kausch and senior goalie Nick Bernstein, who started Friday's game at NC State, to have to stand on their heads to keep the Flames in games, but he has the confident assurance that they will.
"Our goaltending is strong for us every night we're out there, and Konrad played a great game tonight," Handy said. "He's someone who proved last year that he has theatrics for the big games, and he made a huge save for us at the end there to allow us to continue to keep going. Hats off to him."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
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Players Mentioned
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