Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Friday, September 11
7:00 PM
Liberty University Club Sports
vs
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Junior forward Tucker Shields is one of three new alternate captains for the Flames this season, joining senior forwards Mac Ratzlaff and Luke Munroe, who will serve alongside senior defenseman Nick Pomerleau under graduate forward and head captain Sam Feamster. (Photo by Matthew Reynolds)
DI men’s hockey players reflect on last season, gear up for action-packed fall semester
7/23/2026 9:30:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
Liberty will open its season Sept. 11 against UNC Chapel Hill in the first of 22 games at the LaHaye Ice Center.
With its regular-season opener against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill at the LaHaye Ice Center just 50 days away, Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team brings high expectations into the 2026-27 campaign, fueled by energy from the Flames' fans and motivated by one of the most challenging schedules in recent years.
Season ticket sales opened to the general public on Tuesday as Liberty will host 22 of its 34 games at the LIC, including a record three Midnight Mayhem matchups.
"I'm looking forward to the weekends in the LIC with a packed barn, all the fans going crazy," said graduate forward Ryan Finch, who was named the team's forward of the year last season. "There's no better feeling and you don't get that anywhere else in the (ACHA) league. I'm just super blessed to be able to play in front of those fans and enjoy their time. I hope that we put on a good show with the hard schedule that we're playing, to give them good hockey games and just come out on top this year."
After finishing at No. 5 in the ACHA DI national rankings last season and qualifying for its 10th consecutive National Championships tournament near St. Louis, Liberty returns a strong nucleus of players from that team and has added a handful of new recruits: goalies Austin Caley and Jozef Kuchaslo, and forwards Stone Rolston, Alex Hall, and Zach Nicolas, a transfer from NCAA Division I Stonehill (Mass.) College.
The Flames, who have advanced to the ACHA DI Final Four in three of the past six seasons, are eager to challenge perennial powers such as ACHA finalists Adrian College and Ohio University, which tied Penn State for most national titles by winning its fifth in March.
"God has us on a special mission here at Liberty," said Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy, who enters his 27th season at the helm. "As a coaching staff, we want to invest in our players, our staff, and people even around our program. That's a big, big part of the mission we have at Liberty. We can do that in excellent ways and still put us in a great spot to win a national championship. That's our goal every year."
Graduate forward and head captain Sam Feamster said the Flames overcame plenty of obstacles last season and are ready to return to battle with renewed purpose and potential.
"We fought a lot of adversity this year and fought some battles that I don't think we were prepared to fight at the beginning of the year and that forced us to grow in new ways this season," Feamster said. "The expectation starts with everyone coming ready to play in August. We start there, and we have to take it one game at a time and play to our standard and not to the game or what's going on at that point in the season. We have to establish a standard and stick to that for the rest of the season, and we'll be all right."
Video edited by Kylee Wright/Club Sports Video & Media Support Staff
Season ticket sales opened to the general public on Tuesday as Liberty will host 22 of its 34 games at the LIC, including a record three Midnight Mayhem matchups.
"I'm looking forward to the weekends in the LIC with a packed barn, all the fans going crazy," said graduate forward Ryan Finch, who was named the team's forward of the year last season. "There's no better feeling and you don't get that anywhere else in the (ACHA) league. I'm just super blessed to be able to play in front of those fans and enjoy their time. I hope that we put on a good show with the hard schedule that we're playing, to give them good hockey games and just come out on top this year."
After finishing at No. 5 in the ACHA DI national rankings last season and qualifying for its 10th consecutive National Championships tournament near St. Louis, Liberty returns a strong nucleus of players from that team and has added a handful of new recruits: goalies Austin Caley and Jozef Kuchaslo, and forwards Stone Rolston, Alex Hall, and Zach Nicolas, a transfer from NCAA Division I Stonehill (Mass.) College.
The Flames, who have advanced to the ACHA DI Final Four in three of the past six seasons, are eager to challenge perennial powers such as ACHA finalists Adrian College and Ohio University, which tied Penn State for most national titles by winning its fifth in March.
"God has us on a special mission here at Liberty," said Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy, who enters his 27th season at the helm. "As a coaching staff, we want to invest in our players, our staff, and people even around our program. That's a big, big part of the mission we have at Liberty. We can do that in excellent ways and still put us in a great spot to win a national championship. That's our goal every year."
Graduate forward and head captain Sam Feamster said the Flames overcame plenty of obstacles last season and are ready to return to battle with renewed purpose and potential.
"We fought a lot of adversity this year and fought some battles that I don't think we were prepared to fight at the beginning of the year and that forced us to grow in new ways this season," Feamster said. "The expectation starts with everyone coming ready to play in August. We start there, and we have to take it one game at a time and play to our standard and not to the game or what's going on at that point in the season. We have to establish a standard and stick to that for the rest of the season, and we'll be all right."
Video edited by Kylee Wright/Club Sports Video & Media Support Staff
Players Mentioned
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