Flames heat up offensively, salvage split with first-ever shutout of Adrian

Saturday, January 31

Lynchburg, VA

1:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Adrian College

Freshman defenseman Shane Burns starts a breakout against Adrian College in Friday night's opener at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photo by Grace Greer)

Flames heat up offensively, salvage split with first-ever shutout of Adrian

1/31/2026 6:27:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Five Liberty players scored, including two defensemen, and junior goalie Konrad Kausch made 24 saves for his first shutout since the season opener.

What a difference a day makes. Just 16 hours after dropping its fifth game in a row, surrendering a two-goal lead before losing in overtime, Liberty University's No. 9-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team dominated No. 8 Adrian (Mich.) College from start to finish in a 5-0 triumph to salvage a series split, Saturday afternoon in the LaHaye Ice Center.

"That's the best game we played all year," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We got goaltending, and I'm proud of our guys. We challenged them, and they sure rose to the challenge. They played exactly as we wanted them to play, and that's the result."

Liberty (16-9) shut out Adrian (22-6-2) for the first time in 32 meetings in the series as junior goalie Konrad Kausch made 24 saves to post his second shutout and first since a season-opening win over North Carolina State.

With a dusting of fresh snow and frigid temperatures outside, the Flames turned up the heat on the offensive end from the outset, showcasing renewed passion and energy on the ice and narrowly missing a couple of high-percentage scoring opportunities. After killing off its first penalty without allowing any major threats, Liberty reignited offensive firepower.

Sophomore defenseman Joe Feamster received a crossing pass from sophomore forward Tucker Shields and broke the scoring ice with 9:37 to play in the first period. He launched a heat-seeking missile of a slapshot from the high slot that whizzed past sophomore forward Brad Barker, stationed in the right crease, and the blocker of Adrian goalie Petyton Trzaska into the top-right corner of the cage for a 1-0 Liberty lead.

Then, at the 4:58 mark, freshman forward Tanner Hunt worked a drop-and-go pass play with senior forward Michael DeBrito, receiving a return feed across the slot for an uncontested wrist shot deep in the right circle and a 2-0 advantage. It was Hunt's first point since joining the Flames for the spring semester, though he did score one goal against Nädäät in Liberty's last game on its trip to Finland earlier this month.

Senior forward Ryan Finch struck the crossbar with a driving shot from the left wing early in the second period before working a beautiful give-and-go pass combination with junior forward Aidan Carney, who dropped the puck to him in the right circle before slamming home the return pass as he skated down the slot for a 3-0 advantage at the 13:34 mark.

The Flames killed off another penalty as Kausch, who had been knocked down when the Bulldogs crashed the cage moments earlier, made several pad saves of shots from various angles to preserve the shutout.

In the closing 2:15, Shields narrowly missed an open putback chance in the left crease and Liberty entered the second intermission in cruise control.

Fifteen seconds into the third period, the Flames were awarded a five-minute power play but couldn't capitalize on the man advantage.

Liberty was assessed a five-minute major of its own after a check from behind against the boards resulted in Adrian forward Hunter Allen crumpling to the ice with an apparent neck injury that required him to be removed from the ice by stretcher and transported to Lynchburg General Hospital for observation.

"We're praying he's OK, for sure," Handy said, noting he had talked to Allen about coming to Liberty at one time. "The hockey game stops, right, and real life kicks in real quick. We're obviously good friends with (Bulldogs Head Coach) Gary (Astalos) and his coaching staff. No one wants to see that. The cool part is Adrian knows who we are … and we've had great conversations. So we definitely had a word of prayer for Hunter (in the combined team huddle) at the end."

After being admitted to Lynchburg General, Allen had full movement and the CT scan performed there was clear of fractures.

Handy applauded the Club Sports Athletic Training staff that assisted in removing Allen from the ice with professionalism after a similar situation involving former Flames forward Josh Fricks in January 2023.

"Our guys are awesome," he said. "Because of the Josh Fricks situation, when something like that happens, we've refined our process, for sure."

The Flames shut the Bulldogs' power-play unit down for the first three minutes of that man advantage and, following a timeout, Adrian pulled Peyton Trzaska to give them a 6-on-4 advantage. Liberty all but iced the victory when sophomore defenseman Michael Adamek received a short pass from junior defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau and rocketed a shot from behind the Flames' blue line that rolled on edge into the open net, extending the advantage to 4-0 with 4:38 remaining in regulation.

"It was a huge play, a great drop by (junior forward Luke) Munroe who chips it to (Pomerleau) and Poms over to Adamek," Handy said. "It was a nice goal."

Sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher put the icing on the cake with a hard-fought fadeaway goal as he skated across the slot after receiving feeds out of the left corner from graduate forward and head captain Sam Feamster and sophomore forward Mac Ratzlaff with 1:01 to go.

Handy was happy to see the Flames finish off a game after letting leads slip away with three unanswered goals in the past two losses to Niagara and Adrian in overtime.

"We talked a lot about between periods, especially going into the third and we're up 3-0," he said. "We've been in that scenario before, and we need to shut the door here. We take that penalty, and (Assistant) Coach (Ben) Hughes has had some long nights here trying to figure out with the PK the right formula and the right execution and they were bang-on tonight. They were fantastic, and the shot-blocking I thought was fantastic as well."

Liberty will host No. 6 Maryville (Mo.) University next Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. at the LIC after the Saints ended their eight-game losing skid with a 3-1 win over the Flames in the first game of their Maryville Showcase over Thanksgiving break.

The Flames will then conclude their regular season with back-to-back series at Ohio and at home against the Bobcats, currently ranked No. 2 behind only Minot State.

"There's a reason why we play these teams because these are teams you are going to have to beat to get into the national championship game," Handy said. "I'm proud of our coaching staff, proud of our players. It takes a lot to keep grinding when you aren't winning. It's tough mentally, so it's nice to get that win, and you can see some of the work that we've put in and the results of it."

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