DII Flames bounce back to upset Bobcats in series finale

Friday, January 9

Lynchburg, VA

8:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Ohio University

Glen Farmer Liberty DI men's hockey vs. Ohio

Freshman Glen Farmer starts a breakout against Ohio in Friday night's opener in the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ted Allen)

DII Flames bounce back to upset Bobcats in series finale

1/11/2026 2:32:00 AM | Men's D2 Hockey

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Ranked No. 7 in the Southeast Region, Liberty improved to 9-11 after splitting its semester-opening home series against No. 3 Ohio.

Gallery: (1-11-2026) DII men's hockey vs. Ohio

After dropping its first game of the New Year, 3-2 on Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center, Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team salvaged a series split against Southeast Region rival Ohio University on Saturday afternoon, winning 4-0 for its fourth shutout of the season.

Friday's loss was the third in four games for the Flames (9-11), who opened the fall semester by dropping six of their first seven.

"(On Friday), we were kind of getting the rust off and the kinks out," Liberty Head Coach Christian Garland said. "We were down 2-0 going into the third, and we tied it up pretty quickly (before) they responded a few minutes later, and we couldn't bury (the puck) when we needed to."

Ohio's John Rogers scored the only two goals of the first period before Liberty tied it up midway through the third on goals by Jared Matley off an assist from fellow senior forward Eric Abbate and graduate forward Corey Owens, who finished feeds from freshmen defensemen Tobey Ptak and Luke Russell with 9:00 remaining in regulation.

However, less than a minute later, the Bobcats' Braeden Whitesell pounced on a power-play opportunity to net the game winner, and the Flames couldn't convert the equalizer down the stretch, even after pulling junior goalie Christian Sehlke for the final two minutes.

"Ohio's a really good team, and hats off to them," Garland said. "They really pushed us this weekend. They play a fast and physical game, and we needed to adapt to that coming off a super-long break."

In Saturday's rematch, Liberty turned the tables on Ohio by netting power-play goals by freshman forward Boaz Sochaczevski midway through the first period and freshman defenseman Theo Priem 2:42 into the second.

"Sochaczevski was here but was hurt in the fall and only played the last two games of the semester," Garland said. "Getting him back is big because he has a high motor and a high capacity to play the way we want to play, which is very aggressive. He's a freshman from Montreal."

Sochaczevski assisted freshman defenseman Drake Perham on a shorthanded goal with 3:07 to play in the second before senior forward Josh Martin capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 29 seconds to go in the third.

"It was nice to see Josh Martin get one," Garland said. "It had been a long time coming for him. It was a really great heart-and-soul play for him. He beat out an icing and then beat a guy in a one-on-one battle and just took it to the net."

That was the only goal scored with both teams at full strength, though the Bobcats had pulled their goalie for the extra skater.

"Special teams started to get going today, which feels really good going into next weekend (series against Delaware)," Garland said. "What I'm most proud of today was that we killed off two five-minute penalties in the second period. The penalty kill was really excellent today. (Martin is) an awesome penalty-killer, and he really stepped up on the penalty kill this weekend. He had some really big shot blocks for us, and that gives us momentum when we're on the kill."

Liberty outshot Ohio 36-24, and Selke made 24 saves to record his second shutout, matching sophomore goalie Andrew Young.

"Selke played both games, and he played great," Garland said. "Especially early (Saturday), he made a couple big saves, one on a breakaway that was awesome. He continues to build his own confidence, allowing us to be more confident in him going back there."

The win was especially impressive considering the Flames were playing without sophomore forward and leading scorer Cooper Fredericks, who was injured early in Friday's opener.

"It was nice to give guys different looks moving up and down the lineup, and I felt really good about guys stepping up and playing in different roles," Garland said, noting he moved freshman forward Glen Farmer back to defense this weekend. "He played really well and gives us a lot more confidence back there in his ability to make the play."

Liberty President Dondi E. Costin showed himself to be one of the Flames' biggest fans, attending Saturday's game and staying afterwards to interact with the players.

"He was sitting right behind the bench," Garland said. "We didn't know he was coming. Ohio's entire staff and team stayed out on the ice both games to pray with us, and President Costin led that prayer, and he came into the locker room and said a few words to the guys afterwards."

The Flames are ranked seventh in the Southeast Region and the Bobcats (16-4-1) are ranked third. The top 16 will advance to the regional tournament to be played in Cincinnati in late February, when the four teams that win their two games there will receive bids to the DII National Championships in St. Louis.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer