Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Nick Pomerleau scored his fourth goal of the season, all in the past four games, in Friday night's 3-1 loss at Adrian (Mich.) College. (Photo by Emily Cuthrell)
DI men’s hockey outshoots Adrian but can’t complete sweep of Bulldogs
10/16/2026 11:30:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
Liberty was vying for its seventh win in the teams’ last nine meetings, but the Flames dug a 2-0 deficit in the first period en route to a 3-1 setback.
Looking to complete an improbable series sweep on the road, Liberty University's No. 6-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team had No. 2 Adrian College — the reigning national runner-up — on the ropes early in Friday night's rematch in the Arrington Ice Center, but the Bulldogs (9-2) withstood the threat and salvaged a split with a 3-1 victory.
Graduate defenseman Nick Pomerleau appeared to give the Flames (8-1) an early 1-0 advantage with a left-circle shot on a power play with 17:15 remaining in the first period. However, an official called Liberty for goalie interference on a screen set in front of Adrian goalie Peyton Trzaska, negating the goal.
Despite being outplayed and pressured relentlessly in their defensive zone, the Bulldogs capitalized on back-to-back goals over a span of 1:14 with Caleb Minns converting the first on a 2-on-2 opportunity. He finished an assist from Cash Regan with a right-circle shot past Flames freshman goalie Austin Caley to start the scoring at the 13:36 mark.
Then, when Liberty sophomore forward Seth Wall was ejected for delivering a crosscheck to the head of an Adrian player as they battled outside the faceoff circle at center ice, the Bulldogs were awarded a 5-minute major penalty and quickly doubled their advantage. Hunter Allen skated the puck from his own blue line down toward the left corner before accelerating as he cycled around the cage and sent a wraparound assist to Luke Marley in the left crease for a one-timed finish with 12:22 to play in the period.
"That was a tough way to start the game, to have a goal on the power play disallowed and then to get a five-minute major and another penalty called after that, but our guys were totally resilient," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "They called what they called, and we have to play the game. It's part of the process. And for us, we played hard, but we have to execute when we have the opportunities."
The Flames struck back on a power play with 1:17 left remaining in the first period, when Pomerleau received assists from graduate forward Ryan Finch and freshman forward David Utkin in the high slot. From there, he faked a pass right and drew the puck back before sniping a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Playing with only 10 forwards with four sidelined by injury including senior forward Kal Essenmacher, who was hurt in Thursday night's 4-1 opening win, Liberty didn't have quite enough firepower to stage the comeback.
The Bulldogs maintained that one-goal edge through a scoreless second period before extending it late in the third. Handy pulled Caley with nearly three minutes remaining in regulation to give the Flames a 6-on-5 advantage. But the move backfired when Blake Wideman controlled the puck in the corner and unleashed a 180-foot strike into the back of the open net for the insurance score with 1:57 to go.
Caley came back in at that point, and the Flames were unable to generate many scoring threats playing 5-on-5 down the stretch.
Liberty outshot Adrian for the game, 37-28, and Caley made 26 saves, falling to 4-1. Both teams finished 1-for-7 on power-play chances. With the win, the Bulldogs maintained their 19-12-1 advantage in the all-time series.
"I am proud of the way our guys battled all night," Handy said. "We had opportunities to win the game, opportunities to score on the power play that we didn't convert. We have to be better than that and convert them next time. It's part of the learning process. The effort was solid tonight. They certainly didn't outplay us. Five-on-five, we played well. We had our chances. We've just got to be better on the execution."
After having a weekend off for Fall Break, the Flames will return to Lynchburg with five days to prepare for their first of three Midnight Mayhem games of the season, next Friday against No. 7 Drury (Mo.) University at the LaHaye Ice Center. The puck will drop at 11:59 p.m. before the teams meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"We'll get back at it in a few days," Handy said. "We'll get healthy and see where everyone's at. It's going to be up to us to continue to improve, to tweak what we need to get better at, learn what we need to learn, and find that little bit extra to put us in position to be where we need to be at the end of the season."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Graduate defenseman Nick Pomerleau appeared to give the Flames (8-1) an early 1-0 advantage with a left-circle shot on a power play with 17:15 remaining in the first period. However, an official called Liberty for goalie interference on a screen set in front of Adrian goalie Peyton Trzaska, negating the goal.
Despite being outplayed and pressured relentlessly in their defensive zone, the Bulldogs capitalized on back-to-back goals over a span of 1:14 with Caleb Minns converting the first on a 2-on-2 opportunity. He finished an assist from Cash Regan with a right-circle shot past Flames freshman goalie Austin Caley to start the scoring at the 13:36 mark.
Then, when Liberty sophomore forward Seth Wall was ejected for delivering a crosscheck to the head of an Adrian player as they battled outside the faceoff circle at center ice, the Bulldogs were awarded a 5-minute major penalty and quickly doubled their advantage. Hunter Allen skated the puck from his own blue line down toward the left corner before accelerating as he cycled around the cage and sent a wraparound assist to Luke Marley in the left crease for a one-timed finish with 12:22 to play in the period.
"That was a tough way to start the game, to have a goal on the power play disallowed and then to get a five-minute major and another penalty called after that, but our guys were totally resilient," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "They called what they called, and we have to play the game. It's part of the process. And for us, we played hard, but we have to execute when we have the opportunities."
The Flames struck back on a power play with 1:17 left remaining in the first period, when Pomerleau received assists from graduate forward Ryan Finch and freshman forward David Utkin in the high slot. From there, he faked a pass right and drew the puck back before sniping a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Playing with only 10 forwards with four sidelined by injury including senior forward Kal Essenmacher, who was hurt in Thursday night's 4-1 opening win, Liberty didn't have quite enough firepower to stage the comeback.
The Bulldogs maintained that one-goal edge through a scoreless second period before extending it late in the third. Handy pulled Caley with nearly three minutes remaining in regulation to give the Flames a 6-on-5 advantage. But the move backfired when Blake Wideman controlled the puck in the corner and unleashed a 180-foot strike into the back of the open net for the insurance score with 1:57 to go.
Caley came back in at that point, and the Flames were unable to generate many scoring threats playing 5-on-5 down the stretch.
Liberty outshot Adrian for the game, 37-28, and Caley made 26 saves, falling to 4-1. Both teams finished 1-for-7 on power-play chances. With the win, the Bulldogs maintained their 19-12-1 advantage in the all-time series.
"I am proud of the way our guys battled all night," Handy said. "We had opportunities to win the game, opportunities to score on the power play that we didn't convert. We have to be better than that and convert them next time. It's part of the learning process. The effort was solid tonight. They certainly didn't outplay us. Five-on-five, we played well. We had our chances. We've just got to be better on the execution."
After having a weekend off for Fall Break, the Flames will return to Lynchburg with five days to prepare for their first of three Midnight Mayhem games of the season, next Friday against No. 7 Drury (Mo.) University at the LaHaye Ice Center. The puck will drop at 11:59 p.m. before the teams meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"We'll get back at it in a few days," Handy said. "We'll get healthy and see where everyone's at. It's going to be up to us to continue to improve, to tweak what we need to get better at, learn what we need to learn, and find that little bit extra to put us in position to be where we need to be at the end of the season."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Players Mentioned
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