Senior forward and Head Captain Sam Feamster is one of six players who will be honored on Senior Night before Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch with Ohio at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Emily Cuthrell)
Flames to celebrate fans, seniors in final series against Bobcats at LaHaye Ice Center
2/18/2026 2:11:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey
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No. 6 Liberty will look to build on its 25-24-1 all-time series lead over No. 2 Ohio and close the gap in the final ACHA DI rankings before nationals.
Demonstrating playoff-level resilience, Liberty University's No. 6-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team overcame adversity from having multiple players sidelined by injury, sickness, and suspension to salvage a split in last weekend's series at No. 2 Ohio University at Bird Ice Arena in Athens, Ohio. It was the Bobcats' only loss in 22 home games this season.
"We played really well this past weekend with all of the injuries and guys we had out sick," said freshman defenseman Michael Fischer, who recovered from a concussion this semester. "We pick up where we lack if guys are out of the lineup, wherever it may be."
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Junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (25) chases an airborn puck in last February's series against Ohio.
Junior defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau returned from a one-game suspension for fighting at center ice in the final minute of the Flames' sweep of Maryville two weekends ago at the LIC to help turn the tables on Ohio in Game 2.
"It was good to have him back in the lineup," said Fischer, who worked well with sophomore defenseman Michael Adamek throughout the series. "(Sophomore defenseman) Joe (Feamster) was injured the second game, so we were fortunate to grab (Pomerleau) for the second game. That helped us a lot on the back end."
The Flames, who are 4-6 in their last 10 games — winning four of their past five following a five-game skid — stayed at No. 6 in this week's ACHA DI rankings while the Bobcats, who have won nine of their past 12, slipped one spot to No. 3 after spending a week in November and a week in December at No. 1.
"These games are huge for us," Fischer said. "If we can win both, hopefully it will put us up into that top four and give us that (first-round bye) for nationals. We've got a bunch of guys coming back from illness and some guys recovering from injuries. I think we'll be pretty much fully healthy and ready to go for nationals."
He said the four games against the Bobcats on successive weekends are excellent end-of-season tests to prep for nationals.
"They're physical and they play really fast (but) if we just play our game and take it to them, I don't think we'll have any issues," Fischer said. "Resilience in the D zone and on loose pucks and creating offense in the O-zone will help us."
Liberty lost both games against No. 1 Minot State this season and all four against No. 2 Niagara, accounting for four of the five losses in their recent skid. The Flames haven't faced No. 4 UNLV, the reigning national champion, since being ousted by the Rebels last March in their third Final Four finish in the last five ACHA DI national tournaments.
"At the end of the fall and going into the second semester, we've played some high-ranked teams, so that's prepared us well coming into the end of the season," Fischer said. "Our attitude and effort have to be there as a team. If we just stick to the game we played last Saturday, I think we can dominate (the Bobcats) this weekend."
After this final regular season series against Ohio, the Flames will have three weeks to prepare for the March 17-22 ACHA DI National Championships, held for the third year in a row at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis.
"I think everyone's head is in the right space right now," Fischer said. "We haven't gotten too high or too low, either. We're all pretty level-headed and know what we have to do to execute at nationals."
Scouting Preview, Games 30-31: No. 2 Ohio (26-6) at No. 6 Liberty (19-9-1), Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the LaHaye Ice Center. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Friday's contest will be Fan Appreciation Night, and Saturday's rematch will be Senior Night, when the Flames will honor forwards Aidan Carney, Michael DeBrito, Ryan Finch, and head captain Sam Feamster, defenseman Connor Diem, and goalie Nick Bernstein.
"We're all really excited for these last two games and the chance for these seniors to end on a winning note," Fischer said.
All-time series: Liberty maintained a half-game lead, 25-24-1, by splitting last weekend's series at Ohio. The Flames dropped the opener, 2-1, before netting power-play, shorthanded, and empty-net goals to win the rematch, 3-1. Liberty also split its regular-season-ending series against the Bobcats last February at home 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 to edge then-No. 3 Ohio, 4-3 in a shootout.
Liberty Scouting Report:  The Flames' offense is fueled by DeBrito (9 goals, two game-winning goals, 19 assists), Finch (15G, 2GWG, 12A), junior forward Luke Munroe (13G, 3GWG, 13A), Pomerleau (3G, 21A); and sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher (12G, team-high 4GWG, 7A), who netted the shorthanded game winner in the second game at Ohio.
Defensively, the Flames have raised their penalty kill percentage to 80.4 by shutting down Ohio's power play last weekend and Maryville's the weekend before at the LIC. On offense, Liberty has converted 23.0 percent of its power-play chances, slightly better than the Bobcats (21.6).
Junior goalie Konrad Kausch started the past five games, winning four, to improve to 12-5-1, lower his goals-against average to 2.78, and raise his save percentage to 90.4 with two shutouts and one shootout win. Bernstein (6-4, 2.58 GAA, 91.4 SP) started in Liberty's 3-2 victory at Ohio last Feb. 8, when Finch netted the game winner in overtime.
Ohio Scouting Report:Â Â The Bobcats' attack is led by senior forward Luc Reeve (20G, 4 GWG, 19A) and Hollander Thompson (18G, 4GWG, 21A), followed by fellow forwards Laker Aldridge (13G, 2GWG, 23A) and Mathieu Ovaert (10G, 24A), last season's leading scorer.
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 did not start either game against the Flames last weekend, when former Liberty recruit Scott Bird (7-1, 1.38 GAA, 94.9 SP, 1 SO) got the win in Game 1 and Garrett Alderman (8-4, 1.51 GAA, 94.7 SP, 2 SO) took the loss in the rematch.Â
Coaches:Â Kirk Handy is in his 26th season as head coach for the Flames, sporting a career record of 580-238-38. Barry Schutte is 45-11-1 in his second season at the helm for the Bobcats after serving as associate head coach at Miami (Ohio) University the previous five.
