Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Friday, October 2
Lynchburg, VA
9:30PM
Liberty University Club Sports
9
vs
1
William & Mary
Graduate forward Zachary Lemons leads a breakout in an Oct. 2-3 sweep of the College of William & Mary at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ethan Smith)
10/27/2026 6:37:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey
After a season-opening sweep of William & Mary in a home rematch of its ACCHL Tournament final, Liberty dominated Duke on its home ice, 16-0.
Liberty University's Division III men's hockey team, coming off an AAU Division 3 National Championship season, has opened the 2026-27 campaign with a flying start at 4-0 in the month of October. That run of success was highlighted by Saturday's 9-3 victory at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., the Flames' first ACCHL Division 2 showdown.
"The JMU win was a big one, being in our conference," Liberty Head Coach Josh Wagner said. "It was a pretty solid team win. JMU is a pretty good team. We hadn't played them (since 2019), and we will play them twice more (on Feb. 19-20 at the LaHaye Ice Center), in our last games before the (ACCHL) conference tournament, which we will host again."
Liberty improved to 7-2 all-time against the Dukes, with all but three games in the series played at the LIC.
In rematches of last season's ACCHL Tournament final — won by the Flames for the second year in a row — Liberty swept the College of William & Mary by 9-1 and 5-2 scores in their season-opening series on Oct. 2-3 at the LIC.
Liberty outshot the Tribe by a 50-14 count in the first game, scoring twice in the first period before adding three goals in the second and four in the third. The forward line of junior Luke Kim, freshman Elijah Kim, and freshman center Parker Graham accounted for four goals, including both in the first period. Luke Kim scored first at the 8:26 mark off assists from his younger brother and Graham before Graham netted the game winner off assists from the Kim brothers 4:43 before the first intermission.
After Benjamin Tescher drew the Tribe back within 2-1 midway through the second period, back-to-back power-play goals by junior forward William Blair and sophomore center Joey Walter extended Liberty's lead to 4-1 before Elijah Kim pushed the edge to 5-2 with 2:04 to play in the period.
Graham started the third-period scoring with 11:36 remaining in regulation before graduate forward Zach Lemons, senior forward Josh Martin, and graduate defenseman Ethan Locklear capped the lopsided win. Senior goalie Trey Thompkins made 13 saves in the win.
The rematch was more competitive as Liberty only outshot William & Mary by a 42-24 margin. The Flames overcame an early 1-0 deficit with successive goals by Elijah Kim set up by his brother and Graham at the 10:07 and 5:39 marks of the first period. Lemons netted the game winner off assists from Martin and Blair just 2:03 into the second period.
Jacob Wolfrey trimmed the Tribe's deficit to 3-2 with 14:35 to go in the second period before the Flames answered with two goals in the final four minutes of the third by graduate Macguire Graham, off assists from Aiden Hannegan and Christian Coker, and Hannegan unassisted on an empty netter with 44 seconds to play.
Senior goalie Hunter Chubb made 22 saves to secure the victory.
The Flames then traveled to Durham, N.C., and dominated ACCHL Virginia Division foe Duke University, 16-0 on Oct. 16, in what was originally scheduled to be a home-and-home series. The Blue Devils opted not to visit Lynchburg on the following day.
"The guys have been doing a good job and responding well so far," Wagner said. "We are taking it one day at a time, sticking to what we do well. We have a good mix of guys, with the Kim brothers and Parker Graham playing well together and finding some chemistry along with guys like Blair and Lemons playing well together."
The Flames will take part in a Liberty Hockey Alumni skate on Saturday to celebrate Homecoming Weekend, and will put on a tailgate before the 3:30 p.m. Flames Football game against Florida International University at Williams Stadium.
Next weekend, Liberty will travel to play three ACHA Division II teams in the D.C. ACCHL Showcase in Springfield, Va. — St. Thomas (Fla.) University on Nov. 6 at 3 p.m., Misericordia (Penn.) University on Nov. 7 at 10 p.m., and George Mason University on Nov. 8 at 9:30 p.m.
"It's going to be really good competition," Wagner said.
The Flames will then host the University of Virginia, their third ACCHL Virginia Division opponent, on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 3:15 p.m. in the LIC, leaving Elon (N.C.) (Jan. 15-16 at the LIC) and Richmond (Feb. 5-6 in Richmond) as the last two conference clashes.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterGallery: (10-27-2026) DIII men's hockey vs. William & Mary
"The JMU win was a big one, being in our conference," Liberty Head Coach Josh Wagner said. "It was a pretty solid team win. JMU is a pretty good team. We hadn't played them (since 2019), and we will play them twice more (on Feb. 19-20 at the LaHaye Ice Center), in our last games before the (ACCHL) conference tournament, which we will host again."
Liberty improved to 7-2 all-time against the Dukes, with all but three games in the series played at the LIC.
In rematches of last season's ACCHL Tournament final — won by the Flames for the second year in a row — Liberty swept the College of William & Mary by 9-1 and 5-2 scores in their season-opening series on Oct. 2-3 at the LIC.
Liberty outshot the Tribe by a 50-14 count in the first game, scoring twice in the first period before adding three goals in the second and four in the third. The forward line of junior Luke Kim, freshman Elijah Kim, and freshman center Parker Graham accounted for four goals, including both in the first period. Luke Kim scored first at the 8:26 mark off assists from his younger brother and Graham before Graham netted the game winner off assists from the Kim brothers 4:43 before the first intermission.
After Benjamin Tescher drew the Tribe back within 2-1 midway through the second period, back-to-back power-play goals by junior forward William Blair and sophomore center Joey Walter extended Liberty's lead to 4-1 before Elijah Kim pushed the edge to 5-2 with 2:04 to play in the period.
Graham started the third-period scoring with 11:36 remaining in regulation before graduate forward Zach Lemons, senior forward Josh Martin, and graduate defenseman Ethan Locklear capped the lopsided win. Senior goalie Trey Thompkins made 13 saves in the win.
The rematch was more competitive as Liberty only outshot William & Mary by a 42-24 margin. The Flames overcame an early 1-0 deficit with successive goals by Elijah Kim set up by his brother and Graham at the 10:07 and 5:39 marks of the first period. Lemons netted the game winner off assists from Martin and Blair just 2:03 into the second period.
Jacob Wolfrey trimmed the Tribe's deficit to 3-2 with 14:35 to go in the second period before the Flames answered with two goals in the final four minutes of the third by graduate Macguire Graham, off assists from Aiden Hannegan and Christian Coker, and Hannegan unassisted on an empty netter with 44 seconds to play.
Senior goalie Hunter Chubb made 22 saves to secure the victory.
The Flames then traveled to Durham, N.C., and dominated ACCHL Virginia Division foe Duke University, 16-0 on Oct. 16, in what was originally scheduled to be a home-and-home series. The Blue Devils opted not to visit Lynchburg on the following day.
"The guys have been doing a good job and responding well so far," Wagner said. "We are taking it one day at a time, sticking to what we do well. We have a good mix of guys, with the Kim brothers and Parker Graham playing well together and finding some chemistry along with guys like Blair and Lemons playing well together."
The Flames will take part in a Liberty Hockey Alumni skate on Saturday to celebrate Homecoming Weekend, and will put on a tailgate before the 3:30 p.m. Flames Football game against Florida International University at Williams Stadium.
Next weekend, Liberty will travel to play three ACHA Division II teams in the D.C. ACCHL Showcase in Springfield, Va. — St. Thomas (Fla.) University on Nov. 6 at 3 p.m., Misericordia (Penn.) University on Nov. 7 at 10 p.m., and George Mason University on Nov. 8 at 9:30 p.m.
"It's going to be really good competition," Wagner said.
The Flames will then host the University of Virginia, their third ACCHL Virginia Division opponent, on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 3:15 p.m. in the LIC, leaving Elon (N.C.) (Jan. 15-16 at the LIC) and Richmond (Feb. 5-6 in Richmond) as the last two conference clashes.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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