DIII Flames overwhelm opposition en route to their first AAU national championship
3/15/2026 8:45:00 PM | Men's D3 Hockey
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Liberty capped a 5-0 run through the tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., with a 3-0 shutout of St. John Fisher (N.Y.), ending its season on a 19-game win streak.
How dominant was Liberty University's Division III men's hockey team in this week's AAU National Championships at the Community First Igloo in Jacksonville, Fla.?
The Flames outscored their five opponents by a 32-4 margin, capped by Sunday afternoon's 3-0 triumph over St. John Fisher (NY) University, to raise their first national championship trophy.
"It was awesome," Liberty third-year Head Coach Josh Wagner said. "The guys deserve it. It was a great season. We showed the year that we were really good, and we wanted to prove it here."
"You could tell from the vibe inside the locker room, they decided early on that nobody was going to stop us, and they followed through," he added. "As soon as the puck dropped, everyone on the bench knew they wanted that game. They were so dialed in, and they gave everything they had. All glory goes to God for blessing us with this team and the chance to be here."
In a rematch of last season's pool play final that sent the Cardinals to the semifinals before losing to South Carolina in the championship game, Liberty (26-2) rode stellar performances from graduate forward and leading scorer Roman Lamoureux and junior goalie Trey Thompkins, the MVP of Sunday's final. He made 28 saves to improve to 13-2 on the year with his second shutout in as many days as the Flames ended their season on a 19-game winning streak.
"I couldn't have drawn it up better myself," Wagner said. "It was great redemption from last year, a great tournament, and we were able to pull it off. The boys were rolling. We just have a lot of very talented individuals on this team, and the brotherhood and culture we had inspired guys to be better, learning and growing as a team. That was a huge factor."
Liberty's only losses this season were to Rowan (N.J.) College, a team it went on to beat twice, and High Point (N.C.) University's ACHA Division II team, by a 5-4 count. The Flames capitalized on better than 45 percent of their power-play opportunities throughout the regular season while being successful on more than 90 percent of their penalty kill chances, factors that played to their favor in the final.
A factor that played against St. John Fisher was that its 5-1 semifinal win over Fairmont (Conn.) University didn't end until after midnight, and it had less than 12 hours to rest and recover for Sunday's 1 p.m. final.
Sophomore forward Aiden Hannegan may have caught the Cardinals off guard when he lifted Liberty to a 1-0 advantage just 2:11 after the opening faceoff. He received a pass from Lamoureux and rifled a wrist shot from the center of the left circle into the top-right corner of the cage for what proved to be the game winner.
Midway through the second period, Thompkins made a critical kick save of a shorthanded breakaway opportunity by the Cardinals, who killed off 93 percent of their penalties throughout the regular season.
Shortly after John Fisher killed off that penalty, Liberty capitalized on another scoring opportunity set up by Lamoureux, who sent a cross-ice pass to junior forward Jared Meyer at the top of the right circle. Meyer's shot was blocked by a defenseman before freshman forward Luke Kim pounced on the loose puck and unleashed a fadeaway shot from the faceoff dot that trickled past Cardinals goalie Derek Joy and bounced across the goal line for a 2-0 advantage at the 6:04 mark.
Thompkins saved a point-blank shot from Mateo Torres at the 4:55 mark before the Flames stretched the lead to 3-0 on a power-play goal by Lamoureux. He received a pass from sophomore forward MacGuire Graham and worked a give-and-go pass play with Hannegan out of the left corner for a left-circle shot through a screen in front that ripped into the top-right corner of the cage.
After a scoreless third period, Liberty celebrated its first men's hockey national title at any level with jubilation. Its players streamed from the bench at the sound of the final buzzer, tossing sticks and gloves before piling up in a mosh pit in the corner to begin the post-game festivities and start their spring break with a joyful celebration.
Wagner said the Flames will likely move up to AAU Division II next season and look to defend their national title at that level.
"That's the plan," he said. "We played a couple teams we could be playing next year, like Elon (N.C.) University. It was good competition, but if have a team like we do this year, we'll do well again."
The Flames will graduate senior forward and alternate captain Zachary Lemons, who returned from an injury to play in the championship game, but hope to keep the rest of their captaincy corps intact, including senior defenseman Thomas Mougin.
"He did a fantastic job as captain, and he will hopefully be coming back for graduate school, along with (senior defenseman) Ethan Locklear," Wagner said, noting the other two captains, Meyer and sophomore Ben Powell, are expected to return.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterSenior defenseman and head captain Thomas Mougin raises the AAU Division III championship trophy in the post-game ceremony.
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The Flames pour out onto the Community First Igloo ice after winning Sunday's championship final over the Cardinals, 3-0.Â
In a rematch of last season's pool play final that sent the Cardinals to the semifinals before losing to South Carolina in the championship game, Liberty (26-2) rode stellar performances from graduate forward and leading scorer Roman Lamoureux and junior goalie Trey Thompkins, the MVP of Sunday's final. He made 28 saves to improve to 13-2 on the year with his second shutout in as many days as the Flames ended their season on a 19-game winning streak.
