Lady Flames break open tight game with two power-play goals, Shaw’s shorthander

Gallery: (1-30-2026) DI women's hockey vs. Niagara 20260129

After escaping from New York with a narrow sweep of Niagara University in October, winning by 3-1 and 2-0 scores, Liberty University's No. 1-ranked ACHA Division I women's hockey team netted two goals in the first and third periods to pull away from the No. 9 Purple Eagles in Thursday's late-night series opener, 4-0 at the LaHaye Ice Center.

The Lady Flames (25-1) capitalized on two first-period power plays and added a shorthanded goal in the third period to improve to 5-0 in January after having their 30-game winning streak snapped in a fall-semester-ending overtime loss to No. 10 Jamestown (N.D.) University.

"Special teams obviously played a big role today," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said after Liberty finished 2-for-3 with a player advantage and held Niagara scoreless on its three chances."We were plus-three with two power plays and the shorty, but we took too many penalties tonight. I don't like giving them that many chances, but I was really happy that our power play executed."

Liberty outshot Niagara by a 55-27 margin, and senior goalie and alternate captain Alex Keith made 27 saves to seal her league-leading ninth shutout of the season. She is ranked first in the nation among goalies with a 14-0-1 record, a 0.71 goals-against average, and 96.9 save percentage.

"Keith played well," Lowes said. "We controlled the play, but we left her alone and we had to kill some penalties and she made some saves."
Niagara slipped to 7-10-2 overall.

"They're a good team, and they play a tough brand of hockey," Lowes said. "We're a skill team, so we have to find ways to execute. We missed a couple backdoors early … and made a lot of mistakes."

With seconds left on its first power play, Liberty showcased tic-tac-toe passing down the slot with graduate defenseman Sammy Peebles and graduate forward and head captain Brielle Fussy setting up junior forward Tristan Craig for a wrist shot over the pad of Niagara goalie Mackenzie Addley from the inside edge of the left circle for a 1-0 lead at the 12:55 mark.

"They definitely left that lane open and it was a good pass from Brielle," Craig said.

Then, with Liberty's second power play ticking away, junior defenseman Sophia Adamek cashed in on assists from graduate defenseman Allison Shaw and her older sister, graduate forward and alternate captain Zosia Adamek, by lifting a perfectly placed wrist shot from near the left endline over the shoulder of Addley and into the upper netting for a 2-0 advantage with 9:55 to play in the period.

"That was a really special power play," Lowes said. "(The Adamek sisters) have a lot of fun. They're both similar, really good playmakers."

After a scoreless second period, the Purple Eagles appeared to cut the deficit in half by capitalizing on a power play of their own on an open-net wraparoiund, but the goal was disallowed by an interference call after Keith was taken out of the play after a charge near the left post left her behind the cage.

"These games can go a lot of ways, and that's what we're trying to learn is hockey's so brutal," Lowes said. "You can outplay a team and play really good, and they get one good bounce, and you have some penalties, and you can lose. If that goal would have been allowed, that's a big momentum shift. I think we would have responded."

Shaw delivered the dagger with a spectacular shorthanded breakaway finish seconds later. She slid through the right crease before shoveling the puck into the air past Addley from on her side to push Liberty's lead to 3-0 with 8:56 remaining in regulation.

"That was amazing, the best shorthander I've seen in a long time," Craig said. "It was crazy."

"She had fallen and kind of got knocked over after emptying her tank rushing up the ice and made a diving swing of her stick at it to swipe it in," Lowes added. "It was pretty cool. Our girls were excited for her to get a gritty goal like that. We're used to seeing her score some beauties (from the perimeter). She was pretty fired up, too."

Finally, with 1:54 to go, sophomore forward Presley Ellis all but put the victory on ice by deftly pocketing the puck through the five hole from point-blank range off an assist from senior defenseman and alternate captain Emerson Oakes.

"It was actually from behind the net," Craig said. "(Presley) got it right in the five-hole off the back of the goalie's stick. That was a really good shot."

After a quick turnaround, Liberty and Niagara will meet again Friday with the puck dropping at 1:30 p.m. back in the LIC, and the action streamed live by the Liberty Broadcast Experience (LBX)..
"We're continuing to get dialed in," Lowes said. "There's always room for improvement."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Liberty University Club Sports Athletics

Lady Flames break open tight game with two power-play goals, Shaw’s shorthander

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