Alternate captain Anthony Emme battles with the Black Knights along the boards at the LaHaye Ice Center during their series in February.
DII Flames split series with Black Knights, welcome Southeast Region rival Tampa this weekend
10/7/2026 1:47:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey
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Liberty rebounded from a first-game setback and is now 5-1 in the all-time series with Army, all in the past four seasons.
Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team bounced back from a 6-2 loss to Army late Saturday night to dominate the Black Knights, 8-2, in Sunday afternoon's rematch at the LaHaye Ice Center.
"I thought we played really, really well both games," Flames Head Coach Christian Garland said. "Even (Saturday), I've got to commend their goalie (Charles Zolin). We played great, and outshot them like two-to-one, (but) he stood on his head."
Sophomore forward and alternate captain Cooper Fredericks netted the Flames' only two goals in the opener, scoring unassisted to tie Army (1-1) at 1-1 with 6:23 left in the first period. That was less than a minute after Ryan Novo had given the Black Knights the lead with the first of his three goals on the night. Novo sandwiched his second and third scores around a power-play goal by Troy Negus, extending Army's advantage to 2-1 with 2:26 to play in the first period and 4-1 with 4:34 left in the second.
Fredericks pulled Liberty (4-2) back within 4-2 at the 12:59 mark of the third period by finishing a feed from freshman defenseman John Danks. But the Black Knights struck back with two more insurance goals by Jackson Dixon and Tucker Boos to secure the four-goal win, despite being outshot by a two-to-one ratio for the contest.
"We controlled the majority of the play, and our forecheck was really, really good," Garland said. "Our defensemen were active, which helped us control the flow of the game. We really, really moved the puck well and we just couldn't really score. A couple untimely penalties led to a couple goals … that hurt, but overall … I think we're really starting to kind of find our rhythm as a group."
Liberty outshot Army, 42-23, in Sunday's rematch, with a night-and-day difference in the outcome, as the Flames outscored their guests by two goals in each of the three periods.
The Black Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Troy Hayes scored 1:13 after the opening faceoff. But Liberty responded with six consecutive goals, the first two by junior forward Ben Kovak, followed by the first of two by freshman center Jack Hanna in the final minute of the first period that fueled the Flames to a 3-1 advantage.
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Boaz Sochacvezski skates behind the Army goal during February's series at the LIC.
Sophomore forward Seth Huygen, who played for the Flames' Division I team last season and was called back up and scored a goal in Saturday's 5-3 victory over Arizona, extended  Liberty's lead to 4-2 by scoring off assists from Kovac and sophomore forward Boaz Sochaczevski at the 18:10 mark of the second period. Then, with 6:29 to play in the period, Fredericks scored his third goal of the series off an assist from junior forward and alternate captain Anthony Emme.
Less than 3:00 into the third period, Sochaczevski scored off assists from Emme and freshman forward Hoyt Sorensen on a power play before Novo netted his fourth goal of the weekend for the Black Knights. Just 40 seconds later, sophomore forward Drake Perham put away his first goal of the season unassisted before Hanna capped the scoring off an assist from Huygen with 2:07 to go. Â Â
"I was really happy with the execution (Sunday)," Garland said. "We controlled the majority of the play, and it felt like the chances we were getting (and missing on Saturday) were going in."
Though emotions ran high at times in a game plagued by penalties, Garland was pleased with the Flames' pushback and with the fact that they were able to turn the tables on the Black Knights.
"I really thought we never backed down all weekend," Garland said. "That's a really big, really physical and aggressive team, and they don't play a super complex game, but that actually sometimes makes it hard because they're also disciplined in how they play. We have a young group and a lot of newcomers, and we're sort of banged up right now, so we had lots of guys going in and out, (but) I think things are starting to come together. We're shuffling things around all the time right now, but once guys find good chemistry, then we'll be set."
Sophomore goalie Sebastian Thome improved to 2-0 by making 21 saves, though he wasn't pressured the way senior CJ Sehlke (2-2) was on Saturday.
"He looked really confident in the net, much more poised, and a lot more comfortable than he was in the (Sept. 25 series opener) against (Virginia) Tech, his first collegiate start," Garland said.
Liberty swept its home series with the Black Knights in February at the LIC to rise above the .500 mark for the first time. The Flames defeated Army in pool play at both the 2024 and 2025 ACHA Division II National Championships near St. Louis.
"I would say Army will be a top two or top three team in the Northeast, and they have a really, really strong strength of schedule this year, which really helps us," Garland said.
The Flames have even bigger challenges over the next two weeks, welcoming the University of Tampa, which eliminated Liberty in the second and final round of last season's Southeast Region Tournament in Cincinnati to advance to the ACHA DII National Championships. Then, over Fall Break, the Flames will travel to the Centene Community Ice Center, site of the national championships in Maryland Heights, Mo., to challenge Lindenwood University, the 2025 national champion, on its home ice. Liberty was ousted from the 2024 National Championships by the Lions in the final round of pool play.
"I do think (playing Army) prepares us in terms of the physicality," Garland said. "Lindenwood will be physical, and they'll be big and heavy and they won't back down either. (Tampa is) skilled and fast and gritty, so they'll be another good test."
