DI Lady Flames open flood gates of first game against Niagara in second period

Thursday, November 12

Lynchburg, VA

9:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Niagara University

Junior forward Presley Ellis controls the puck between Niagara's Bianca Rushforth (50) and Lexi Seider (22) during Thursday night's series opener at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Dawn Baker)

11/13/2026 9:07:00 AM | Women's D1 Hockey

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Four different players scored and graduate goalie Alex Keith posted her first shutout of the season for No. 2-ranked Liberty.

A four-goal second period lifted No. 2-ranked Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team to a 4-0 triumph over No. 4 Niagara University, late Thursday night at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"Once we broke it open, that second period we seemed to be buzzing with energy," Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. "As a staff, it was like, 'Did they do something different? Were we better? How do we capture that and put it in a bottle and find it every period?' It was a good day for us."

Liberty (10-2) improved to 9-0 all-time against the Purple Eagles (5-2) — including pool-play wins in the past two ACHA Division I National Championships near St. Louis — and has now outscored them by a 36-5 total margin.

Charlotte Lawson drives by Niagara defenseman — Freshman forward Charlotte Lawson started the scoring against Niagara early in the Lady Flames' four-goal second period.

After a scoreless first period, the Lady Flames came out firing on all cylinders in the second, starting with freshman defenseman Charlotte Lawson's game winner at the 15:23 mark off assists from junior forward Haylee Lee and senior defenseman and head captain Sophia Adamek.

"It was a good period," Lowes said. "As coaches, … we want to produce offense every period. If we would have (outscored Niagara) 1-0, 2-0, and 1-0, we might feel even better about the consistency of it. But it's a great win over a good team. We've just got to be ready for (Friday)."

Not only were all four of the game's goals scored in the second period, but that's also when all four of Thursday night's penalties were called — two assessed to both teams. Senior forward Ellie Sarauer capitalized on the first of two called against Niagara by scoring a power-play goal off an assist from graduate forward and alternate captain Tristan Craig to double the Lady Flames' advantage with 12:39 to play in the period.

"Getting the power-play goal was really big for us," Lowes said.

Evie McGonagle collides with Niagara player — Freshman forward Evie McGonagle, who scored Liberty's fourth and final goal, collides with Niagara defenseman Easton McComber.

Junior right wing Brooke Olson and freshman forward Evie McGonagle capped the scoring 1:22 apart off an assist from freshman forward Marissa Richard at the 5:18 mark and assists from junior defenseman Isabella Pelletier and junior right wing Presley Ellis with 3:56 to go.

"We've been scoring by committee, and that's going to have to be our team identity," Lowes said. "We had lots of girls with Grade A scoring chances today, so that's a good sign. We had some really good finish tonight. Evie (McGonagle's) goal was really pretty, Brooke (Olson) scored two-on-one, and then Ellie (Sarauer) scored backdoor. It was a good period."

Graduate goalie and alternate captain Alex Keith made 24 saves to earn her first shutout of the season, improving to 3-1 and lowering her goals-against average to 1.00 while raising her save percentage above 93.0. She is coming off a record-setting senior season in which she finished 22-0-2 with 13 shutouts.

"Keith played really well and made some big saves," Lowes said. "I thought her best period was the first period, or third. Taking care of shutting them down was big. When the team starts scoring, they get confidence, they start buzzing. It was a good result."

Lady Flames laugh on bench against Niagara — Lady Flames junior defenseman Isabelle Pelletier laughs with teammates on the bench.

To complete the series sweep and improve to 10-0 against the Purple Eagles on Friday afternoon back at the LIC, they will need to match Niagara's energy level.

"We'll need a good first period for us to get started," Lowes said. "We'll be ready. They'll get a good night's sleep (and) they'll be fired up. They're a spirited team. They play with passion, and I thought their bench energy was good. They had moments where (they looked dangerous)."

"They'll be a different team (on Friday)," Assistant Coach Mike Morrison added.

Friday's 1:30 p.m. rematch will be the Lady Flames' last game of the year played on their home ice at the LIC. Before traveling to Finland for the second time in four seasons over Christmas Break, Liberty will conclude its fall semester schedule by traveling to the St. Louis area for the second time for games against Maryville (Mo.) University on Nov. 19 and Minot State (N.D.) University at Maryville on Nov. 20 before concluding 2026 action against Midland (Neb.) University on Nov. 21 at McKendree (Ill.) University in a rematch of last season's triple-overtime ACHA National Championship final setback against the Warriors.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer