Friday, September 19
Lynchburg, VA
7:00 PM
Liberty University Club Sports
6
vs
1
University of North Carolina
Flames stick it to Tar Heels in first ACHA DI clash, 6-1
9/19/2025 11:11:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
North Carolina native Ryan Finch tallied the first goal of the first period and second of the second to lift Liberty to a 4-0 lead en route to the lopsided home triumph.
Fueled by a College For a Weekend (CFAW) and Family Weekend crowd, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team dominated the University of North Carolina's first-year Division I program by a 6-1 final on Friday's "Pucks and Polos" Night at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Flames senior forward Ryan Finch started the scoring off a right-circle faceoff won by junior forward Luke Munroe, slapping a quick one-timer from the high slot that rung off the crossbar and in at the 17:57 mark.
Then just over a minute and a half later, junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau skated his way through a couple Tar Heel defensemen and threaded a low laser of a shot from around the same spot as Finch's score between the skates of a Flames forward posting up in the right crease.
Junior forward Aidan Carney nearly netted a wrist shot in the right crease on a delayed penalty before the Flames couldn't capitalize on their first power-play opportunity of the night despite putting some quality pucks on net.
Senior defenseman Connor Diem launched three perimeter shots that UNC goalie Lucas Brown either blocked or gloved with no putback chances. The Flames killed off a penalty before remaining on the offensive to close out the period.
Just 23 seconds into a 4-on-3 Liberty power play, Hayden DeMars padded its lead to 3-0 off assists from fellow sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith and senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster at the 3:52 mark.
"We always try to focus on bringing our best game from the start of the season," Feamster said. "There's a lot of little things that we still need to work on, but I liked our effort tonight and that we were able to capitalize, especially after last weekend, only scoring one goal against NC State at home. We have the skill throughout the lineup, and we had multiple guys contributing, and that's how we can be our best every night."
In the closing minute of the period, Finch netted his second goal of the night, beating Brown on a sharp-angled, top-shelf shot from the left endline off an assist from Munroe and sophomore forward Mac Ratzlaff to extend the edge to 4-0 going into the second intermission.
The Tar Heels finally got on the scoreboard with 13 seconds remaining on a power play carried over from the second period at the 18:20 mark of the third. Patrick O'Shaughnessy finished an assist from Kevin Ma with a shot through traffic from the top of the right circle, ending senior goalie Nick Bernstein's shutout bid.
But senior forward Michael DeBrito got that goal back with a top-shelf wrist shot off a crushing check and short drop-back pass from junior forward Mason Smith in the right circle after a secondary assist from junior defenseman Luke Anderson for a 5-1 cushion with 9:26 to play.
Then, with 3:02 to go, Pomerleau distributed his team-high fifth assist of the season by launching a shot from the left point that Feamster deftly deflected past Brown as he flashed through the left crease for the final score.
Liberty outshot the Tar Heels by a 67-20 margin and Bernstein made 19 saves.
"We got a lot of shots on goal, and I thought we played pretty well overall," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We had lots of great chances, and their goalie made some good saves, too. We continue to build. You want to try to get better every game, and there were a lot of positives. The line of Kal (Essenmacher), (Mac) Ratzlaff, and Seth (Wall) was very strong for us tonight. They had some great chances and created a lot of good energy for us."
Liberty returns to the LIC next weekend for a two-game series against former ESCHL rival Delaware, the defending conference champion that advanced to nationals last season.
"That'll be our first Midnight (Mayhem) game, and we will start to really get into the grind of the season," Handy said of next Friday's series opener, with the puck dropping at 11:59 p.m., followed by Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Flames senior forward Ryan Finch started the scoring off a right-circle faceoff won by junior forward Luke Munroe, slapping a quick one-timer from the high slot that rung off the crossbar and in at the 17:57 mark.
Then just over a minute and a half later, junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau skated his way through a couple Tar Heel defensemen and threaded a low laser of a shot from around the same spot as Finch's score between the skates of a Flames forward posting up in the right crease.
Junior forward Aidan Carney nearly netted a wrist shot in the right crease on a delayed penalty before the Flames couldn't capitalize on their first power-play opportunity of the night despite putting some quality pucks on net.
Senior defenseman Connor Diem launched three perimeter shots that UNC goalie Lucas Brown either blocked or gloved with no putback chances. The Flames killed off a penalty before remaining on the offensive to close out the period.
Just 23 seconds into a 4-on-3 Liberty power play, Hayden DeMars padded its lead to 3-0 off assists from fellow sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith and senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster at the 3:52 mark.
"We always try to focus on bringing our best game from the start of the season," Feamster said. "There's a lot of little things that we still need to work on, but I liked our effort tonight and that we were able to capitalize, especially after last weekend, only scoring one goal against NC State at home. We have the skill throughout the lineup, and we had multiple guys contributing, and that's how we can be our best every night."
In the closing minute of the period, Finch netted his second goal of the night, beating Brown on a sharp-angled, top-shelf shot from the left endline off an assist from Munroe and sophomore forward Mac Ratzlaff to extend the edge to 4-0 going into the second intermission.
The Tar Heels finally got on the scoreboard with 13 seconds remaining on a power play carried over from the second period at the 18:20 mark of the third. Patrick O'Shaughnessy finished an assist from Kevin Ma with a shot through traffic from the top of the right circle, ending senior goalie Nick Bernstein's shutout bid.
But senior forward Michael DeBrito got that goal back with a top-shelf wrist shot off a crushing check and short drop-back pass from junior forward Mason Smith in the right circle after a secondary assist from junior defenseman Luke Anderson for a 5-1 cushion with 9:26 to play.
Then, with 3:02 to go, Pomerleau distributed his team-high fifth assist of the season by launching a shot from the left point that Feamster deftly deflected past Brown as he flashed through the left crease for the final score.
Liberty outshot the Tar Heels by a 67-20 margin and Bernstein made 19 saves.
"We got a lot of shots on goal, and I thought we played pretty well overall," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We had lots of great chances, and their goalie made some good saves, too. We continue to build. You want to try to get better every game, and there were a lot of positives. The line of Kal (Essenmacher), (Mac) Ratzlaff, and Seth (Wall) was very strong for us tonight. They had some great chances and created a lot of good energy for us."
Liberty returns to the LIC next weekend for a two-game series against former ESCHL rival Delaware, the defending conference champion that advanced to nationals last season.
"That'll be our first Midnight (Mayhem) game, and we will start to really get into the grind of the season," Handy said of next Friday's series opener, with the puck dropping at 11:59 p.m., followed by Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Players Mentioned
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