No. 5-ranked Flames doubled-up in first-ever clash with No. 7 Drury

Friday, October 23

11:59 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Drury University

Flames graduate forward Ryan Finch skids to a stop in front of Drury goalie Brett Sweet in Saturday morning's Midnight Mayhem matchup at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Dawn Baker)

10/24/2026 10:31:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey

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The Panthers pounced on Liberty after it scored twice early in the first period and again midway through the second, netting the last four goals unanswered in a 6-3 Midnight Mayhem setback.

Fueled by a raucous crowd at the LaHaye Ice Center, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team opened the scoring in the first-ever meeting with Drury (Mo.) University and the season's first of three Midnight Mayhem matchups, early Saturday morning.

But the seventh-ranked Panthers (7-1) responded quickly and decisively, overcoming 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in a 6-3 upset of the No. 5 Flames (8-2).

"It was a good crowd tonight (but) I think we got a little too energized off the start and got outside of our game there," Liberty junior defenseman Joe Feamster said. "That's not our game. That's not a good representation of what our team is capable of. We'll get back to it (on Saturday night)."

Just 53 seconds after the opening faceoff, graduate defenseman and second-leading scorer Nick Pomerleau gathered a loose puck along the right boards near the blue line and launched a rocket of a shot that senior forward and fellow alternate captain Mac Ratzlaff tipped past Panthers goalie Brett Sweet from deep in the left crease for a quick 1-0 Liberty lead.

Pomerleau and freshman forward David Utkin assisted sophomore forward Bronson Hunt's sharp-angled shot from the right corner, putting the Flames on top 2-0 at the 16:39 mark.

"Nick Pomerleau is a great leader for our team," Feamster said. "He brings it every night. He plays a lot of minutes, and that's kind of a specialty in his game: being able to be really good defensively and also produce offensively for us. 'Poms' had a good game tonight, and he's always a guy that's going for us and creating energy for our team."

But Drury quickly turned the tables on Liberty, netting back-to-back goals in a span of 19 seconds to knot the contest at 2-2 with 15:56 to play in the period. Kevin Thomas Walters recorded his fifth of the season, finishing an assist in front from Jeff Patola past freshman goalie Austin Caley before Anmol Garcha notched his fourth, set up by the fifth assists from both Daniel Beaupre and Faris Meddeb.
"It was a back-and-forth game," Feamster said. "That's hockey, that's how it goes. But we gave up some chances that were uncharacteristic for us. We just got caught with guys getting behind us, and we've just got to be more aware."

After killing off a penalty midway through the first period, Liberty responded with quality scoring chances on transition by junior forward Zach Nicolas, senior forward Brad Barker, and graduate forward Ryan Finch. On the defensive end, among others, Liberty senior forwards Michael DeBrito and Kal Essenmacher, returning from injuries sustained in the first game and last weekend, respectively, sacrificed their bodies to block perimeter shots by the Panthers.

Finally, at the 9:47 mark, Nicolas ended a 26-minute scoring drought for both teams by capitalizing on assists from Pomerleau and senior defenseman Michael Adamek with a shot through the slot, lifting Liberty back on top, 3-2.

But again, the lead proved to be fleeting as the Panthers responded to tie it back up 1:15 later when Jamison St. Clair sneaked behind the Flames' defense and beat freshman goalie Austin Caley one-on-one by lifting a wrist shot to the top-left corner of the net. Then, just 2:11 later with Drury on a power play, it seized its first lead on Joe Davidson's shot from along the left boards off assists from Garcha and Russell Kosec for a 4-3 advantage.

And the Panthers weren't finished. Early in the third period, they doubled the edge to 5-3 on Garcha's putback in the slot after Caley blocked Matthew Johnston's initial shot on an odd-man rush. Finally, with 1:28 remaining in regulation, Garcha capped the scoring and his hat trick with his sixth goal of the season, deking the puck around Caley on a breakaway set up by Beaupre and Alex Edwards.

"I liked how we came out in the third," Feamster said. "We were pushing hard and just gave up another one behind us. That definitely took the wind out of us a little bit, but I liked how we stayed in the fight the whole game. There's no quit in our locker room, no quit on our bench, and we're going to keep going until the last buzzer goes."

Drury outshot Liberty by a 32-31 margin and Sweet (5-1) made 28 saves, two more than Caley (5-2).

"We believe in both of our goalies and that either one can get the job done," Feamster said. "We can't put the blame on Caley at all. He battles. He never gives up on a play. There's only so much that a goalie can do on breakaways and odd-man rushes. It's on us as a team to play better in front of him."

Feamster would not speculate on who would start in goal for Saturday night's rematch, with junior Jozef "Joe" Kuchaslo, a transfer from Drury, waiting in the wings. Regardless, he said the Flames need to rise to the challenge to stay on top of the Panthers if they are going to salvage a series split.

"They're a good team over there," Feamster said. "They came in and played their game and played hard. They're a fun team to play against. We're going to bring it (Saturday) night. We need to just play a strong game, get back to our system, sticking to the process, and just wearing down their defensemen, getting pucks behind them. We were trying to force plays instead of just making the easy play a lot of the night.(Saturday night), we're just going to keep it simple and get to the net and bury a few. We need to stick to our game and keep pounding them."

The Flames were a little beat up, but Head Coach Kirk Handy managed to put together four offensive lines for the Midnight game, after only having 10 forwards available for the second game at Adrian, a 3-1 setback that allowed the Bulldogs to split that series.

"We're definitely battling the injury bug a little bit," Feamster said. "We've got a few guys out and a couple guys got hurt tonight. That's part of the game, and the good thing about our lineup is we're deep. We've got guys sitting in the stands that are really good hockey players and are ready to be next up. We've got a next-man-up mentality, and those guys can come in and have a huge impact on our lineup. It was nice to get Bronson Hunt back and (sophomore defenseman) Shane Burns. Those guys are big for our lineup."

The puck will drop at 7 p.m. for Saturday's rematch, with the game streamed live on ESPN+.

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

Gallery: (10-24-2026) DI men's hockey vs. Drury Game 1