Flames salute military with more dominant second-game victory over Seawolves

Saturday, November 7

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Stony Brook University

Graduate defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau (25) and freshman forward Stone Rolston appy pressure around the Stony Brook cage during Saturday's Military Appreciation Night at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by KJ Jugar)

11/7/2026 11:34:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

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Seven different goal scorers accounted for the 7-2 triumph, Liberty’s 13th in a row against Stony Brook.

Liberty University's No. 6-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team was battle-ready for Saturday's rematch with former ESCHL rival Stony Brook, a much more decisive 7-2 triumph in the LaHaye Ice Center on Military Appreciation Night.

"It's awesome," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "Our guys do a great job in marketing this game, but it has a bigger purpose. For us, to have that warrior-type mentality is important for us."

U.S. Armed Forces veterans and active-duty service members added to the military-friendly atmosphere, with Liberty's Army ROTC Chaplain James Chiriaco II offering the opening prayer, Ret. U.S. Army Master Sergeant Benjamin Parrish singing the national anthem following a Color Guard presentation by the Army ROTC Eagle Battalion, and U.S. Marine Corps Ret. Corporal Gary Witt — a two-time Purple Heart medal recipient and the eighth recipient of the university's George Rogers Champion of Freedom Award —participating in the ceremonial pre-game puck drop.

During the first intermission, Benjamin Braddock, Hunter Riley, Justice Sarinana, Sebastian Gutierrez, and Noah Patsel were sworn in to the U.S. Military by Virginia Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Company Commander Capt. Elisabeth Mazza.

Liberty President Dondi E. Costin and his wife, Vickey, were in attendance and were featured on the videoboard singing along to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" during the second intermission.

"We play for school, we play for God, ultimately," senior forward Kal Essenmacher said. "Having a Military Night tonight was extra special and it's a cool feeling to be playing for your country on a night like this."

Handy returned from having missed Friday night's opener to attend a funeral for his uncle in Ottawa, Ontario. Now in his 27th year, Handy improved to 591-243-39 for his career, tying former Lady Flames Women's Basketball Head Coach Carey Green (591-240 in 26 seasons) as Liberty's all-time winningest coach — among Athletics or Club Sports programs.

"We missed (Handy) for sure," Essenmacher said. "It's good to have him back. We pride ourselves as a team if we're down a guy, we need to pick it up for him. We got the win for him yesterday and got the win for his return tonight."

In extending its winning streak against Stony Brook (4-5-1) to 13 games, Liberty (11-3) once again dominated in the shot department, holding a 49-26 advantage, and also exceled on special teams, killing off all six of the Seawolves' power-play opportunities.

Flames junior goalie Jozef "Joe" Kuchaslo, in his first start in nine games, made 24 saves, including some clutch stops of point-blank shots in the early going.

"Our guys played hard tonight, starting on the PK," Handy said. "That was huge, and Joe (Kuchaslo) played well for us tonight in net. He made some big saves, some timely saves, too. He was able to manage the puck well tonight."

"So happy that Joe's back," Essenmacher added. "He's such an awesome guy, such a great guy in the locker room, and it's so good to see him get this win tonight. After what he's been through this season so far, it's so good to see him come out here and earn the start and earn the win for himself. He played his heart out for us today."

"We knew that if every single player, every line, special teams, if we bought in the right way, we're going to win," Essenmacher said. "That's the mentality that we have. If everyone commits for 60 minutes, we're going to win."

Seconds after killing off a 5-on-3 power play for more than 3:00, the Flames broke the scoring ice by capitalizing on an odd-man rush at the 8:49 mark of the first period. Senior forward and alternate captain Mac Ratzlaff received an outlet from sophomore defenseman Jentzen Kaebel and skated up along the left boards before sending a crossing pass to junior defenseman Luke Anderson trailing in the high slot. He lifted a driving wrist shot into the back of the net past Stony Brook goalie Michael Foglia for a 1-0 Liberty lead.

"We decided we were going to keep the puck low and just make gritty plays," Essenmacher said. "We didn't really need as much skill, we just need to commit to make hard plays to the net, and it got the job done tonight. We just need to keep grinding. It's one shift at a time (and) we need to be able to battle and pick our guys up when we need to."

Essenmacher doubled Liberty's lead with a howitzer of a slapshot from the top of the right circle directly off a faceoff won by sophomore forward Tanner Hunt with 3:26 to play in the period.

The Flames started the second period on a power play after a boarding penalty assessed to the Seawolves at the end of the first. They cashed in with 12 seconds remaining on the man advantage when sophomore defenseman Shane Burns launched a shot from the high slot that freshman forward Stone Rolston deflected up and over the glove of Foglia into the back of the net to pad the Flames' edge to 3-0 at the 18:11 mark.

Then, with 14:32 left in the second, Bronson Hunt received an outlet pass from Kuchaslo and set up his twin brother, fellow sophomore forward Tanner Hunt, for a top-shelf finish while driving down the left circle. That extended the advantage to 4-0 and ended the night for Foglia, who was replaced by Colin Rowbotham.

"We got production up and down the lineup," Handy said. "I liked the way our team played tonight. The Hunt brothers played maybe their best game. Bronson's really starting to come on. He's been working hard to find his game, and he was super effective this weekend. I thought he played maybe his best game as a Liberty Flame tonight."

On the defensive end, Kuchaslo blocked a shot from deep in the right crease by forward Georgii Tokarskii and a left-circle shot from defenseman Jack Mancini midway through the second, preserving his shutout bid. But the Seawolves ended it at the 10:00 mark when Thomas Perivolotis fired a shot from the high slot that Zachary Rochette tipped into the right side of the net through a screen in front, trimming the deficit to 4-1. Two minutes later, forward Lorenzo Marra struck a crossbar with a fast-break shot from the right wing.

That seemed to wake up the Flames, who have had a tendency of late to give up goals right after scoring. This time, they scored soon after being scored upon, adding two goals in the final 3:36 to stretch their lead to 6-1. First, graduate forward Ryan Finch finished feeds from senior forward and alternate captain Luke Munroe and Ratzlaff. Then, 40 seconds before the second intermission, graduate center Tucker Shields received passes from Essenmacher and graduate defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau in the center of the left circle and rocketed a one-timer past Rowbotham.

Liberty stretched its lead to 7-1 with 15:47 remaining in regulation on a dominant five-on-five possession. After working the puck around the perimeter, Bronson Hunt's forecheck of a Stony Brook player against the back boards opened the door for Tanner Hunt to set up Pomerleau with a pass out of the left corner for a left-circle shot that beat Rowbotham short-side.

"That was a great play by Tanner and Pomerleau has been great for us," Handy said.

With the Seawolves back on the power play, Kuchaslo made a series of saves in front of the goal mouth. But seconds after another successful Liberty penalty kill, and just as the Flames were starting a power play of their own, Stony Brook defenseman Colin Wenrich capitalized on the game's final goal after skating the puck into the left crease.

Aside from that defensive lapse, Handy was pleased with the team's intensity throughout the contest.

"I really liked the way we played tonight without the puck," he said. "We were a lot harder to play against, and that's something we're going to have to continue to improve on as we go forward. It starts in practice with the way we compete against each other. And we have to tighten up taking penalties. We took too many tonight."

Liberty has next weekend off before traveling to Niagara (N.Y.) University to face the No. 5-ranked Purple Eagles (9-3-2), who won all four matchups with the Flames last season.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Gallery: (11-7-2026) DI men's hockey vs. Stony Brook Military