Late surge by Bulldogs snuffs Flames in overtime for fifth straight setback

Friday, January 30

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Adrian College

Junior goalie Konrad Kausch tries to save a point-blank shot by the Bulldogs in Friday night's opener in the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Grace Greer and Emily Cuthrell)

Late surge by Bulldogs snuffs Flames in overtime for fifth straight setback

1/30/2026 11:59:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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No. 9-ranked Liberty led 4-2 with 10 minutes to play before allowing No. 8 Adrian to turn the tables in the series opener.

Gallery: (1-30-2026) DI men's hockey vs. Adrian Game 1

For the second game in a row, Liberty University's No. 9-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team gave up a third-period lead and allowed three unanswered goals down the stretch, falling to No. 8 Adrian (Mich.) College, 5-4 in overtime Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center.

The back-and-forth battle between the Flames (15-9), who have reached three of the past five ACHA Division I National Championship Final Fours, and Bulldogs (22-5-2), who have won three of the past seven national championships, was as evenly matched as their respective rankings would indicate.

Liberty came into the contest having won four of the past five meetings in the rivalry, but lost for the fifth consecutive time at home for the first time in recent history.

Afterwards, Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy gave a fiery pep talk in the locker room.

"He said what needed to be said," Liberty senior forward Kal Essenmacher said. "We had that game wrapped in a bow, and we just kind of gave it away. It wasn't any specific guy; it was just the team. We just for some reason shifted our mentality that we had already won the game. Adrian will take anything they get, and we gave them a lot of room, and they came back. They did what Adrian usually does when we give them any space."

The Bulldogs started the scoring when Luke Marley punched in the rebound of Justin Jamer's shot from the left boards that bounced off the pads of Flames junior goalie Konrad Kausch midway through the first period. With the Flames on a 5-on-3 power play, they converted the equalizer at the 6:00 mark when junior forward Luke Munroe jammed in a putback from deep in the left crease off assists from senior forward Ryan Finch and freshman defenseman Shane Burns, who launched the initial shot from the high slot. Officials deemed it a goal on a bang-bang play with the puck entering the net as the cage was simultaneously jarred loose from its moorings.

With Liberty still on a 5-on-4 man advantage, it struck again for a 2-1 lead when junior defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau flipped a backhanded pass from the high slot to sophomore forward Tucker Shields in the left circle. Shields unleashed a shot toward the lower-right corner where sophomore forward Liam Cox-Smith planted his stick and lifted the deflection up into the upper netting.

Adrian tied it up at 2-2 with 16:36 to play in the second period when Marley deflected Ryan Brow's high shot from the top of the right circle under Kausch's outstretched glove and down into the back of the net, possibly getting away with a high sticking violation.

"I'll give him his props," Essenmacher said of Kausch, who made 28 saves as Liberty outshot Adrian, 34-33. "Konrad saved the game for us a couple of times. Sometimes, the puck just bounces that way. But I don't think we would have made it to overtime without him."

With the teams skating 4-on-4 after concurrent penalties, the Flames seized a 3-2 lead on a perfectly timed tip by Finch in the slot off Burns' shot from the top of the left circle. Finche's deflection bounced down to the ice and off Trzaska's glove before he batted the rebound into the back of the net from in right crease for his team-high 15th goal of the season.

After starting the third period on a power play killed off by the Bulldogs, the Flames doubled their edge to 4-2 at the 17:25 mark when Essenmacher received a short pass from sophomore defenseman Joe Feamster as he fell down in the defensive zone and skated up along the left boards. He then lifted the puck off the side official before recovering the rebound mid-air and making a spectacular cut through the left circle and back across the slot before crashing over Adrian goalie Peyton Trzaska as he tucked the puck inside the right post.

"That was a nice play from Joe. He made a good touch pass," Essenmacher said. "I haven't scored in a minute, but I've been getting a lot of chances these last couple games. I'm very glad I could get one, but tough it wasn't the game-winner."

"That's what we need to do (Saturday)," he added. "We need to be more simple and just crash their net. I think the more simple game we play, the better a team we are."

Liberty killed off an Adrian power play before the Bulldogs scored at even strength to pull within 4-3 with 9:27 remaining in regulation when Keegan Decaluwe jammed in a point-blank finish past Kausch, who he crashed into the back of the net while cleaning up an assist from Jamer.

Then, with 6:30 to go, Adrian capitalized quickly on another power-play opportunity with Dylan Gajewski receiving a crossing pass from Cale Strasky and netting the equalizer on a slapshot from the top of the left circle through the five hole.

Moments later, the Bulldogs nearly cashed in with the go-ahead goal, but it was called back with a couple Adrian players in the crease on the point-blank putback.

"We should have taken any bounces we were going to get, and we didn't take advantage of that one," Essenmacher said.

The Bulldogs made quick work of Liberty in the 5:00 sudden-death overtime, with Sebastian Smith netting his 15th goal of the season on an odd-man breakout off the faceoff, finishing a feed from Gajewski with a laser inside the left post.

"They got a 3-on-2 rush and (Smith) placed a perfect shot," Essenmacher said. "Nothing Konrad could do about that. We just need to stick man on man. The key to the game was we just needed to block more shots. We didn't get in lanes. We gave them so much room. That's on us. We take accountability for those goals. They obviously played well, but we kind of gave that to them."

He said after the Flames came out aggressive on the forecheck, the game was decided in the neutral zone.

"Adrian's a very simple team," Essenmacher said. "They try to flip pucks, they try to send guys. We need to bunker down in our neutral zone. They just beat us in those last 10 minutes. We gave them some penalties, we gave them 3-on-2s, we gave them rushes. The neutral zone in the last 10 minutes is why we lost that game."

"We just need to stick to our game plan of playing hard and simple," he added. "Boys are beat up and bruised, but there's no other way I'd rather play hockey. We'll get some rest and come back. Adrian's a really fun team to play. We know what they're going to give us. We outhit them. Our forecheck was unreal for the first 50 minutes. Their (defensemen) didn't want to touch the puck and then something just shifted in our mindset. If we hit them the whole game, there's nothing that they can do about it."

He said as much of a physical battle as it may appear, the Flames need to reset and bring the right mentality into Saturday's 1 p.m. rematch, which will also be streamed live on ESPN+.

"It's a lot more mental than a lot of people think," Essenmacher said. "We just need to stick to our brand of hockey. We've produced 50 minutes of hockey the last two games and we need to learn that 50 minutes isn't enough, 55 isn't enough, 59 isn't enough. We need 60. If we give 60 (on Saturday), we'll win; if we don't, we won't."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media