Sophomore forward Tucker Shields battles against Utah in a faceoff during their Oct. 3, 2025, first-ever matchup in the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ethan Smith)
DI men’s hockey eager to make another deep run at ACHA National Championships near St. Louis
3/13/2026 11:50:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
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The fifth-seeded Flames, who have reached the Final Four in three of the past five seasons, are fully focused on Saturday morning’s first test vs. No. 12 Utah.
A showdown with the University of Utah awaits Liberty University's No. 5-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team in Saturday morning's opener at the National Championships near St. Louis. The No. 12 Utes eked out a 1-0 win over No. 21 Northwood in Thursday morning's opening round at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.
"We believe in our team, and we're excited to get out there and excited to see what God's got in store for us out there," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "God's given us opportunity to play in these nationals-level games since getting back from Finland in January. We're not so much concerned about who we play but that when we play, we're ready to play at our best. Our focus is going to be on the first game, on starting well. We want to put all of our time, focus, and resources into making sure Liberty University is the best version of our team."
He said experience is on the Flames' side, and they are fully aware of what kind of effort is required to overcome adversity and survive and advance through the tournament.
"We've been here a few times, and that is an advantage for us and guys like (senior forward and head captain) Sam (Feamster) and (senior goalie) Nick Bernstein who have been here for a few years now and understand how to approach the tournament and the focus they need to have on Day One" Handy said. "The guys' attitudes have been great. They have had a learning mentality to be responsive to fix the gaps that we've had." Ryan Finch, who is tied with fellow senior forward Michael DeBrito and junior forward Luke Munroe for the Flames' scoring lead, sparks a breakout against Utah in the teams' Oct. 3 meeting, an 8-2 victory at the LaHaye Ice Center.
This will be the third year in a row for senior forward Ryan Finch to compete at nationals near St. Louis, and he and his veteran teammates know the journey is not always a smooth ride. He expects plenty of turbulence on the flight back to the Final Four, where the Flames have advanced three of the past five seasons before being eliminated by No. 1 Minot State in 2021 and 2023 and UNLV in 2022 (quarterfinals) and 2025.
"We have a lot of returners from last year who experienced that feeling of losing to UNLV," Finch said, noting Liberty opened a 2-0 lead early in the third period before allowing five unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes. "It's just all about having the experience of going to nationals and being able to control your emotions and understand that the games are full of ups and downs, like rollercoasters. You've just got to get on the boat and ride it and support each other. No matter if you're playing or not, everybody plays a big part in winning the games. We've just got to be there for each other and hopefully, at the end of the day, we can come out with the Murdoch Cup."
The Flames could meet the No. 4 Rebels again in Sunday's 11:15 a.m. EST quarterfinals if both teams win their openers. UNLV will challenge No. 13 Grand Canyon University, a 6-1 winner over No. 20 Grand Valley University on Thursday afternoon, on Friday at 11:15 a.m.
"We don't know who we're playing yet," Finch said. "We're just focusing on our own game, on how we play and how we practice. We're going to have to play Ohio, UNLV, Minot State, or any of the big names to win. We just have to worry about ourselves and take it one game at a time. It doesn't matter who you have on the team. It just matters how close you guys get and how (bad) you want it. You've got to play your heart out and play for the brother next to you and good things will happen."
He said the Flames' game preparation, including conditioning under Club Sports Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance Chris Kerr, has been excellent.
"We've practiced hard these last couple of weeks, and we're ready for anything to come our way," Finch said. "We've been battling adversity, being the underdogs all year. We're going into nationals with the underdog mentality, with something to prove. We have a tight group, a tight bond, so we're feeling pretty confident about going into the tournament this year."
Handy said execution on special teams is often a determining factor as to which team advances through the single-elimination bracket play.
"There's a difference between knowing and believing and executing," he said. "It comes down to execution. We've worked a lot on our special teams, and we have confidence in our special teams. I believe our guys are going to be prepared and ready to go. As a coaching staff, we have a ton of confidence in our group. Both (Assistant) Coach Dan (Berthiaume) and (Assistant) Coach Ben (Hughes) have done a great job making sure that those guys are confident and that they can execute. That's a huge part of it, when it comes down to it, us executing at the national tournament."
Offensive possession, defensive pressure, and the fast-break transition game are other critical components to team success.
"At end of the day for us, it comes down to how well we're going to defend," Handy said. "We spend a lot of time talking to our guys, making sure we've clarified that part of it and taken their feedback, to understand what we're going have to do on our end. That's been a big key for us, our transition game. Puck management will be another key factor, how we manage the puck."
"You've got to do all the little details the right way," Finch added. "We've just been dialing into the detail stuff like the D-zone and breakouts and making sure that we're nice and crisp coming out of the zone … and be able to put the puck in the back of the net, which will win games at the end of the day. It starts with defense first. Good defense wins championships. We've got to have all five guys doing their jobs, and we should come out on top."
This will be the third year in a row, and the fifth time in six years, for the Flames to compete at nationals in St. Louis.
"It's a quiet place," Finch said. "It's not like the LaHaye Ice Center where we have fans and have lots of energy for us. We've got to create our own energy. We've just got to be loud on the bench, and when guys block shots or take hits just make sure they know that and stay positive. You've just got to be a team there. It's a crazy atmosphere there. One bad play and you could be on the bus ride (back to Lynchburg). You've just got to play every game, take it five minutes at a time, and play your heart out."
He is hopeful the Flames will get a rematch with the reigning national champion Rebels in Sunday morning's quarterfinals.
"I know this team here at Liberty can beat (UNLV), and we can beat anybody if we're all positive, we play as a unit, and we play for each other," Finch said. "We can't lose to anybody when we're on together. It's the moment we fall off track that we've just got to jump back on the train and keep going."
Scouting Preview, Game 32: No. 12 Utah University (16-9-1) vs. No. 5 Liberty (19-10-2) Saturday at 11:15 a.m. EST in the Centene Community Center's USA Arena in Maryland Heights, Mo. All games in the ACHA tournament will be streamed live through FloHockey.
All-time series: Liberty leads, 2-0, after sweeping Utah in the teams' first-ever series Oct. 3-4 at the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Va., winning the opener 8-2 before going to a shootout before prevailing in the rematch, 3-2, with Finch and sophomore forward Tucker Shields netting the equalizers late in the first period and in the final minute of the third, respectively. They also were the only two players to score in the shootout as junior goalie Konrad Kausch stopped both of the Utes' attempts to secure the victory. Junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau is Liberty's fourth-leading scorer with a team-high 22 assists.Liberty Scouting Report: The Flames' offense is tremendously balanced with a three-way tie atop the leaderboard between Finch (15G, two game-winning goals, 14A), fellow senior forward Michael DeBrito (9 goals, 2GWG, 20 assists), and junior forward Luke Munroe (14G, 3GWG, 15A), all with 29 points. Junior defenseman Nick Pomerleau (3G, 1GWG, 22A) and sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher (12G, team-high 4GWG, 8A) have also eclipsed 20 points.
Junior goalie Konrad Kausch started the last seven games of the regular season, improving to 12-6-2, while his goals-against average rose to 3.10 and his save percentage slipped to 89.7 after giving up 10 goals in the tie and loss to Ohio in the season-ending series at the LIC. Bernstein (6-4, 2.51 GAA, 91.6 SP) relieved Kausch in the second game against the Bobcats, allowing just one goal in the last two periods of play between the pipes.
Utah Scouting Report: The Utes are 8-1 in spring semester play, with their only loss coming against UNLV in a series split in Salt Lake City in late February.
Offensively, they are led by forwards Paul Waldhauser (15G, 4GWG, 26A) and Gion Coray (11G, 26A) and defenseman Matthew Delaney (9G, 22A).
Utah has converted on 25.9 percent of its power-play opportunities and killed off 82.6 percent of its penalties.
In net, the Utes have also platooned two goalies, with Garrett Fuller (10-5, 2.64 GAA, 90.9 SP) backed up by Joseph Greilich (5-4, 2.97 GAA, 90.2 SP, 1 SO).
Coaches: Handy is in his 26th season as head coach of the Flames, sporting a career record of 580-239-39 and leading Liberty to three ACHA DI Final Four appearances in the past five seasons. Morgan Feenie, the WCHL Coach of the Year in 2023-24 now in his fifth season at the helm, has led Utah to three consecutive appearances in the ACHA DI National Championships and has posted an 81-43-12 record.
