Fueled by four-goal second period, Flames establish pecking order on Blue Hens in opener

Friday, October 9

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Delaware

Graduate defenseman Nick Pomerleau leads the charge in celebrating his second goal of the game and second of the season, accompanied by forwards Kal Essenmacher, Liam Cox-Smith, and Bronson Hunt, in the Flames' 5-2 triumph over Delaware, Friday night at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Camden Desmarais)

Fueled by four-goal second period, Flames establish pecking order on Blue Hens in opener

10/9/2026 11:37:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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Two goals by graduate defenseman Nick Pomerleau helped spark No. 7 Liberty (6-0) to a 5-2 victory over Delaware at the LIC.

Gallery: (10-9-2026) DI men's hockey vs. Delaware

A four-goal second-period buoyed Liberty University's No. 7-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over former ESCHL rival Delaware in the opener of its first two-game home series at the LaHaye Ice Center on Friday night.

"It was a great game, a great team win," said Flames freshman goalie Austin Caley, who made 20 saves on the night to improve to 3-0. "They're known for coming into the second game and bringing it to us, so we've got to be ready for (Saturday), but I'm really happy with how the team played."

The Blue Hens (2-3) got on the scoreboard first when Kade Cochlan redirected Brady Burke's perimeter shot past Caley. But just 27 seconds later, freshman forward Stone Rolston answered with the equalizer for his second goal in two games and third on the season, finishing junior forward Zach Nicolas' beautiful backhanded feed from beyond the left endline into the top right corner of the cage at the 10:35 mark.

Graduate defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau capitalized on the Flames' first power play of the second period by netting his first goal of the season with a one-timer in the left circle, set up by senior forwards Luke Munroe and Kal Essenmacher, to lift the Flames to a 2-1 advantage with 13:49 to go in the stanza.

Four minutes later, Liberty (6-0) broke its lead wide open by scoring back-to-back goals in a span of less than a minute. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Essenmacher received an outlet pass from junior defenseman Luke Anderson and skated the puck through the right circle before threading a cross-crease pass to Pomerleau for another one-timed finish past Blue Hens goalie Justin Bayers at the 9:48 mark.

Soon after the ensuing faceoff, Essenmacher intercepted a pass in Delaware's defensive zone and fired a low shot past Bayers' blocker into the back of the net to extend the Flames' edge to 4-1.

With the teams back in 4-on-4 action, Caley made a spectacular sprawling glove save to thwart a two-on-one fast break opportunity for the Blue Hens, smothering the point-blank shot with his mitt near the right post.

"Little bit of skill, little bit of luck, but you need those bounces as a goalie sometimes," Caley said. "I've got a group of guys in front of me that's really good at eliminating those chances, so it's good to come up big for them when I can."

"Austin made some big saves for us tonight," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy added. "He played really well."

Then, with 1:31 to play in the period, Anderson launched a shot from the left point that glanced off the stick of a Delaware defenseman and past senior forward and alternate captain Tucker Shields as it trickled across the goal line for a commanding 5-1 Flames advantage. Graduate forward and head captain Sam Feamster and senior defenseman Mason Smith were credited with assists.

Essenmacher (4G, 4A), Pomerleau (2G, 6A), and Smith (3G, 5A) moved into a four-way tie for the team scoring lead on the night, with sophomore forward Tanner Hunt (2G, 6A) still sidelined by injury.

The Flames, who outshot the Blue Hens, 54-22, were held scoreless as a team in the third period, when Delaware converted another 4-on-4 score on a second-chance putback by Liam Forster off an initial shot by Luke Delaney with 7:15 remaining in regulation.

"I thought we played OK, but there was a sense of urgency that we didn't have for 60 minutes tonight that we have to have (on Saturday)," Handy said. "We're going to play a lot better tomorrow. We need a better effort."

The teams will meet in a rematch on Saturday at 7 p.m. back in the LIC.

"I know we'll come ready to play," Caley said. "We've got to get good rest tonight. I'm looking forward to it. We've been conditioning for this, and we're going to come out and stomp them tomorrow. It's going to be a great game. I can feel it. I think we all agree we have more than that. We had a little bit of adversity in there, and It was really good to see our morale as a team locker room. We have a lot of really great leaders in there that really led the team tonight, and that's a big reason why we won the game."

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