Force does not favor Flames as Purple Eagles complete series sweep on Star Wars Day

Saturday, January 24

Lynchburg, VA

1:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Niagara University

Liberty University’s Mens D1 Hockey team plays Niagra on January 24, 2026. (Photo by Ethan Smith)

Sophomore forward Tucker Shields is tripped up as he skates into a force field of Purple Eagles. (Photos by Ethan Smith)

Force does not favor Flames as Purple Eagles complete series sweep on Star Wars Day

1/24/2026 6:56:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Liberty dropped its fourth straight game against a top-five opponent, bridging the fall to spring semesters.

Gallery: (1-24-2026) DI Men's Hockey vs. Niagara

Cosplay stars from Lucasfilms' 501st Legion and Rebel Legion made special appearances for Saturday afternoon's Star Wars Day rematch between No. 9-ranked Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team and No. 5 Niagara (N.Y.) University at the LaHaye Ice Center. Unfortunately for the Flames, who were decked out in black-and-red Darth Maul-inspired uniforms for the occasion, the Purple Eagles from the Empire State shone brightest on the ice, winning 5-3 to complete a home-and-away season sweep.

Niagara, which entered the series on a four-game road losing skid against the No. 2 (Ohio) and No. 3 (UNLV) teams in the nation, dealt Liberty a double-edged defeat with its fourth consecutive home setback against teams ranked in the top five.

"Overall, I liked our game tonight," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "There were moments where we had some mental lapses, and they were able to find the back of the net. I still believe in the group we've got in there, and I know we're going to be better for these games. We're playing these games for a reason. If we have a willingness to learn, that's the hard part, but if we do, we're going to be better for it."

Along with Liberty Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, Handy made a revised cameo appearance in the "Rebel Rising"-themed Marketing video played before the game and between periods. Pomerleau said, despite the jerseys, the Flames certainly have not joined the Dark Side. They continue to fight the good fight of faith through spiritual warfare on and off the ice, which spills over into the post-game handshakes and prayer circles.

"We were definitely playing for God," he said. "We're going to play hard. Every team we face is going to play hard in between those 60 minutes and then … when the game's finished, we're done playing against each other, so it's good to see that they want to come pray with us. It's a really powerful thing coming together at the end after a good battle like that."

Despite leading in shots, 41-28, special teams again did not favor the Flames (15-8) against Niagara (17-5). After netting the only power-play goal in Friday night's 3-1 opening win, the Purple Eagles broke the scoring ice in Saturday afternoon's rematch with another quick score on the man advantage. Jacob Kalin capitalized from point-blank range off assists from Adam Sojka and leading scorer Charlie Belanger with 6:46 left in the first period for a 1-0 lead.

This time, Liberty struck back with a power-play goal of its own, with sophomore forward Tucker Shields evening the score with a shot from along the left boards off an assist from junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau at the 17:35 mark of the second period.

However, the Purple Eagles responded moments later when a Liberty turnover opened the door for a fast-break finish by Belanger, who skated in and maneuvered around Flames junior goalie Konrad Kausch before finishing with a backhand into the open net for a 2-1 advantage with 15:04 to play in the period.

Seconds after their third power play of the second period ended, Liberty netted the equalizer just 1:03 before the second intermission when senior forward Michael DeBrito's shot from the top of the right circle was redirected by the stick of a Niagara defenseman to Pomerleau, whose one-timer in the left crease beat Purple Eagles goalie Jackson Pundyk.

Then, with 17:32 remaining in regulation, freshman defenseman Shane Burns received fast-break feeds from junior forward Luke Munroe and DeBrito as he skated into the right circle and lifted a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage for his first goal for the Flames and Liberty's first lead in the series, up 3-2.

"It was a nice goal," Handy said. "He jumped up in the play and made a great shot, and I'm happy for him."

"Just right place, right time," Burns added. "It was a great play by (Munroe and DeBrito on the rush)."

Determined to stretch its winning streak against the Flames to four, Niagara netted the equalizer and go-ahead goals in a span of 11 seconds. First, Lucas Fancy scored off assists from Marcus Angelin and Kalin at the 12:52 mark before Belanger netted his second go-ahead goal of the day, which turned out to be the game-winner.

"That was kind of the killer for us," Handy said. "Those two goals within (11) seconds are ones that we definitely want back. We just watched the video. We made some mistakes on them, and those are areas we're going to have to watch to get better in."

"We just have to find ways to close out games," Pomerleau added. "Credit to Niagara. They're a good team. They capitalized on our mistakes. We've just got to refine and get better in those areas and just start bearing down away from the puck and buy into winning these closer games."

The Flames went on the power play with 8:17 to go and sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith nearly tucked in a putback near the right post. Pomerleau and senior forward Ryan Finch narrowly missed perimeter shots before Shields had his shot from the left circle gloved by Pundyk with 3:35 to play.

After killing off a penalty, Handy pulled Kausch at the 2:00 mark and again after a timeout with 1:11 remaining, which gave the Flames an extra skater. However, the Purple Eagles delivered the death knell when Kalin — who scored the game winner on Friday night — chased down a loose puck and slammed it into the open net for the insurance score with 57 seconds to play.

"We're on the right track (but) we've got to tweak some things to win these games," Handy said. "That's a good team over there that is going to make a lot of noise at the national tournament, and we know we're going to make a lot of noise. They got the better of us this weekend, and we keep going. There are some great opponents coming in. We're going to have to battle to get back in there."

Liberty will return to the LIC next weekend for another Friday night and Saturday afternoon series against No. 8 Adrian College, which it split its fall semester series with up in Michigan.

"What we saw this weekend was when we lost our focus or lost our commitment to the little things, that's when they were able to capitalize," Pomerleau added. "We've just to be willing to play without the puck and not just with it, and we've just got to commit to blocking shots, getting stick on stick, keeping guys in front of us, just commit to doing the little things 100 percent of the time."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer