Liberty's ACHA Division II men's hockey team features 15 returning and 12 new players, led by four-man coaching staff. (Photos by Matt Reynolds)
New-look DII Flames excited to build on last season’s winning record with solid foundation for future
9/16/2026 2:54:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey
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Liberty will open its season against reigning ACHA Division II national champion FGCU on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at the LIC.
As it prepares to host reigning national champion Florida Gulf Coast University in its season-opening series Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center, Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team has welcomed several new faces into the fold for a second season in a row.
On the bench, second-year Head Coach Christian Garland and Assistant Coach Josh Graham have doubled their staff this season with the addition of former forward Corey Owens ('26) and defenseman Alex Norwinski ('23) as assistants. Second-year Head Coach Christian Garland (second from left) has tripled his assistant coaches with Josh Graham (left) joined by former Flames players Corey Owens and Adam Norwinski.
On the ice, the Flames return 15 players on this season's 27-man roster, including their top four scorers — junior forward Benjamin Kovac (9 goals, 12 assists) and sophomore forwards Cooper Fredericks (16G, 6 game-winning goals, 7A), Glen Farmer (10G, 8A), and Drake Perham (8G, 2GWG, 7A).
Fredericks serves as an alternate captain this season, complementing junior forward Anthony Emme and sophomore defenseman Theo Priem, who was designated the Flames' head captain as a freshman last spring. The three captains also are on Liberty's Disciple Maker Team along with senior goalie CJ Sehlke. Head captain Theo Priem (second from left) is flanked by alternate captains Anthony Emme (left) and Cooper Fredericks. All three also serve as Disciple Makers along with Christian Sehlke (right).
Garland and his staff recruited the 12 newcomers to this year's team based as much on their spiritual alignment with the team's values and university's mission as their talents on the ice.
"Overall, I am really happy with where we're at right now, what we've learned so far, and the character makeup of the group, which is awesome," he said. "We are still very, very young with 23 of our 27 guys underclassmen, but we're in a really good spot. The team seems to be coming together as a pretty tight-knit group of players. We just have to continue to grow and learn over the next year."
They join senior forward Travis Strutt, Emme, and sophomore forwards Christian Houser — who served as captain on the NA3HL Minnesota Wilderness in 2025-26 — and Boaz Sochaczevski, a Montreal native who tied Priem (4G, 8A) for seventh on the Flames in scoring last season.
"We improved a lot through recruiting, and are really excited about the returning sophomores, who grew a lot last year, and about some of the pieces that we've brought in," Garland said. "We're building (the roster) back up, and expectations are really, really high."
The Flames are coming off a 15-13-2 season playing against the top-rated schedule in the nation. Their season ended with a 4-3 loss to the University of Tampa— the No. 2-ranked team in the Southeast Region behind FGCU last season — in the second round of the Southeast Region tournament in Cincinnati, with a national tournament bid at stake.
This season, the top two teams in the final Southeast Region standings will receive autobids to nationals with the last two qualifiers coming from the Feb. 19-21 regional tournament that pits the Nos. 3-16-ranked teams.
"The Southeast is always one of the top regions in the country, but they're all really strong now," Garland said. "The landscape of the league has really changed since last season. Before, Florida (FGCU) and Miami (Ohio) University were with us at the top of the league. This year, every team we play has the potential to be a top team."
With 18 of their 25 regular-season games (72 percent) at the LIC, the Flames will at least have a home-ice advantage. Their road trips will be brutal, however, with two games at 2025 DII national champion Lindenwood (Mo.) University and one at Maryville (Mo.) University over Fall Break (Oct. 16-18); two at Virginia Tech (Sept. 26 and Nov. 14); and a fall semester-ending trip to FGCU in Boca Rotan, Fla., on Dec. 4-5.
"FGCU will be a real litmus test right out of the gate," Garland said. "(The Eagles) are the standard for the league, and we are excited for this weekend. We are also looking forward to playing Virginia Tech four times again (after winning three times last season) … and to play the University of Tampa (Oct. 9-10 at the LIC)., which ended our season (last year)."
"There is a lot left to prove for the guys who were here last year, and losing a one-goal game to a team that went to nationals is still fresh in their minds," he added. "We have never played Maryville, and we haven't played Ohio State (Oct. 23-24 at home since sweeping OSU at the LIC in September 2022)."
The Buckeyes finished 22-3 and ranked No. 5 in the Southeast last season, before being eliminated by FGCU in the final regional tournament game.
The Flames will start the spring semester by hosting Delaware (Jan. 15-16), St. Bonaventure (N.Y., Jan. 22-23), and Miami University (Jan. 30) before concluding their regular season by welcoming UNC at Chapel Hill — which moved up to the ACHA DI level last year — over Valentine's Weekend (Feb. 13-14).
"St. Bonaventure swept us at home last year, and UNC is coming here to play us twice at the end of the year, which will be a really good tuneup for regionals," Garland said.
For this weekend's showdown with FGCU, he is optimistic about the Flames' chances of at least opening the season with a split after dropping all three meetings with the Eagles last year.
"If we can play to our identity of being really tenacious and gritty and structured, especially with our defensive systems, and if we can get up and down the ice and not let them get behind us, because they're usually a fast team," the Flames should have a fighting chance, he said.
He gave props to Club Sports Performance Specialist Allison Salehi for doing an excellent job preparing the team for its first competitive action through dryland workouts in the weight room.
"We feel like we're in great shape, and the coaching staff is really excited about what is a really competitive group," Garland said.
