Liberty senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster takes a faceoff in last regular season's finale against Ohio at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Emily Cuthrell)
Flames travel to face rival Bobcats in first two of four straight showdowns
2/11/2026 8:44:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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Liberty visits Bird Ice Arena this weekend before welcoming Ohio to the LaHaye Ice Center for its Fan Appreciation Night next Friday, followed by Senior Night.
There is no closer rival for Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team than Ohio University, the team the Flames will face in Athens, Ohio, this Friday and Saturday before hosting the Bobcats for their regular-season-ending series next weekend.
"We haven't seen Ohio yet, but I know they're always a good team and (they're) really fun and competitive games when we play them, so four games at the end of the year against them will be a good challenge and get us ready for nationals," Liberty senior forward and head captain Sam Feamster said.
Riding a three-game winning streak after ending a five-game skid, the Flames moved up two spots to No. 6 in this week's ACHA DI rankings while the Bobcats, who have won eight of their past 10, remained at No. 2 after spending a week in November and a week in December at the No. 1 spot.
Liberty lost both games against No. 1 Minot State this season and all four against No. 3 Niagara, but hasn't played No. 4 UNLV, the reigning national champion, since being ousted by the Rebels in the semifinal round of last season's national championships near St. Louis. Â Â
Scouting Preview, Games 28-29: No. 6 Liberty (18-8-1) at No. 2 Ohio (25-5), Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. at Bird Ice Arena in Athens, Ohio. Both games will be broadcast live on FloHockey.
All-time series:Â Liberty leads by the narrowest of margins, 24-23-1, breaking a tie by splitting its regular-season-ending series against the Bobcats last February at the LaHaye Ice Center despite being outshot by a 2-to-1 ratio. The Flames, ranked No. 4 at that time, bounced back from a 5-4 overtime setback by winning the rematch against then-No. 3 Ohio, 4-3 in a shootout.
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Senior forward Ryan Finch battles Ohio's Drake Albers for a loose puck last season.Liberty Scouting Report:  The Flames' offense is fueled by senior forwards Michael DeBrito (9G, 2GWG, 19A) and Ryan Finch (15G, 2GWG, 11A) as well as junior forward Luke Munroe (13G, 3GWG, 13A), who scored twice in Liberty's 5-3 victory over Maryville this past Saturday at home that completed the series sweep; junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (3G, 21A); and sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher (11G, 3GWG, 7A), who netted the equalizer in the second win over the Saints.Â
Defensively, the Flames raised their penalty kill percentage to 77.5 by shutting down Maryville's power play last weekend. On offense, Liberty has converted 24.2 percent of its power-play chances, slightly better than the Bobcats (24.0).
Junior goalie Konrad Kausch has started the past three games, all wins for the Flames, to improve to 11-4-1, lowering his goals-against average to 2.94 and raising his save percentage to 89.5 with two shutouts. Senior Nick Bernstein (6-4, 2.58 GAA, 91.4 SP) started between the pipes in Liberty's 3-2 victory at Ohio last Feb. 8 on Finch's game winner in overtime.
Ohio Scouting Report:Â Â The Bobcats' attack is led by senior forward Luc Reeve (20G, 4 GWG, 19A), who paced ACHA Division I in scoring as a freshman in 2022-23 with 75 points and the Bobcats with 46 points the following year before ranking second on the team with 31 points last season. He is tied for the scoring lead this season with Hollander Thompson (18G, 4GWG, 21A), who is followed by fellow forwards Laker Aldridge (13G, 23A) and Mathieu Ovaert (10G, 20A), last season's leader.
In net, Ohio has platooned three goalies for the second year in a row, with Matt Zazon (11-1, 1.33 GAA, 95.0 SP, 4 SO) replacing Max Karlenzig from last season and posting even more impressive statistics. Zazon is complemented by former Liberty recruit Scott Bird (6-1, 1.44 GAA, 94.9 SP, 1 SO), and Garrett Alderman (8-3, 1.46 GAA, 94.8 SP, 2 SO).Â
Coaches:Â Kirk Handy is in his 26th season as head coach for the Flames, sporting a career record of 579-237-38. Barry Schutte is 44-10-1 in his second season at the helm of the Bobcats after serving as associate head coach at Miami (Ohio) University the previous five seasons.
