Flames complete home-and-home sweep of NC State sparked by five-goal second period

Saturday, September 26

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

NC State University

Graduate defenseman and alternate captain Nick Pomerleau launches a shot from in the left circle in Saturday night's rematch with North Carolina State at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Ethan Smith)

Flames complete home-and-home sweep of NC State sparked by five-goal second period

9/26/2026 11:17:00 PM | Men's D1 Hockey

Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

Forwards Ryan Finch and Mac Ratzlaff both scored twice and defenseman Mason Smith netted his third goal in as many games Saturday night.

Gallery: (9-26-2026) DI men's hockey vs. NC State Game 2

One night after dominating North Carolina State on the road, Liberty University's No. 7-ranked ACHA Division I men's hockey team rallied from an early deficit to improve to 8-0 all-time against the Icepack by doubling them up, 8-4, Saturday night at the LaHaye Ice Center.

"That's a tough turnaround," Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "We got in late last night, by the time we got to bed, it was 2:30 to 3 in the morning."

Showing few signs of fatigue, Liberty outshot NC State 53-22 including 20-4 in the first period and 18-5 in the second, when it outscored the Icepack, 5-2. The Flames improved to 4-0 this season — all against Southeast Region opponents.

"It's a good start, but it gets a lot tougher," Handy said. "We've got (No. 15-ranked) Arizona coming into town and we know they're going to give us a great weekend. They'll be tough. We celebrate tonight and what we did this weekend, but we get ready to go next weekend. Next team up."

Liberty was playing without sophomore defenseman Michael Fischer and senior forward Brad Barker, who scored his second goal in as many games Friday night before he and Fischer were ejected and served one-game suspensions Saturday.

"Brad and Fischer were electric (Friday night)," Flames senior forward Kal Essenmacher said. "They got the boys going with their energy, and they got taken out, but it was awesome to see some other guys that stepped up. (Junior) Zach (Nicolas), (freshman) Stone (Rolston), and (sophomore) Seth (Wall) was our best line tonight."

NC State started the scoring off a turnover in Liberty's defensive zone when Aidan Raedy sneaked a shot from the high slot past Flames junior goalie Jozef "Joe" Kuchaslo inside the left post to give the Icepack a 1-0 lead at the 8:48 mark of the first period.

A day after his 22nd birthday, Essenmacher netted the equalizer from a seemingly impossible angle along the right endline. Seconds earlier, sophomore forward Tanner Hunt's one-timed shot off a pass from sophomore defenseman Shane Burns from the point bounced off the backboards behind the cage.

"It was a good play from Burns and Tanner, and I just threw it on net," Essenmacher said. "I think it hit the goalie's butt, but we'll take it. A goal's a goal; we don't ask how."

Then, with 3:19 to play in the period, senior defenseman Mason Smith received passes from Wall and Burns as he skated across the slot into the top of the left circle and launched a wrist shot into the upper netting for his third goal in as many games, lifting Liberty to a 2-1 lead.

"Mason's been awesome," Handy said. "He's worked hard, and he's done a solid job defensively, but he's really been (dangerous) offensively."

"Shout out to Mason," Essenmacher added. "He's been unbelievable these last couple games. He's really getting a sense of where to be, where the puck is, and where to shoot. He's putting the puck in the back of the net. He's a core piece of our defense, and he's going to provide some offense and a lot of speed."

Exactly 2:00 into the second period, with the Flames on a power play, graduate forward Ryan Finch — a Raleigh, N.C., native — punched in an insurance score from deep in the left crease, redirecting senior forward Luke Munroe's feed from the top of the right circle.

Just 24 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play, the Icepack capitalized on Jack Ammons' low rocket of a shot from the top of the right circle that skidded past Kuchaslo. Then, with 18 seconds remaining in the ensuing 5-on-4, NC State knotted the score at 3-3 on a breakaway finish by Jake Gifford.

Moments later, with the teams back at even strength, the Flames reclaimed the lead with 14:19 to play in the second period when junior forward Liam Cox-Smith took a short pass from Munroe and skated the puck out from the right corner before ripping a sharp-angled shot through a defenseman's screen off the shoulder of Icepack goalie Pieter Bartelse and inside the near post.

Just 22 seconds after that, Hunt padded the team scoring lead with his second goal of the season, and first game-winner, to go with seven assists. He skated around defenders at the top of the left circle before launching an unassisted shot from the high slot past Bartelse with 13:57 left in the period.

The Flames kept adding fuel to the fire in their five-goal second period, with senior defenseman Luke Anderson taking a short pass from graduate forward Tucker Shields behind the net before spotting senior forward Mac Ratzlaff in the left crease for a point-blank putaway at the 6:31 mark.

"We just told ourselves we were going to stick to a process, and that first one was going to come from any four of our lines tonight," Essenmacher said. "It was just a matter of time. Once we got one, the floodgates were open."

Seventeen seconds later, Cox-Smith intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and tapped the puck to Finch for a quick counterattack on a drive across the red line and through the slot, extending the football scoring margin to 7-3 with the extra point.

"Finch and Mac (Ratzlaff) are always fun to watch, especially Finch against his hometown team," Essenmacher said. "They're both fast, and they can both shoot the puck, and they're so hyper, they could be anywhere on the ice and score from anywhere."

Finally in the third, NC State capitalized 25 seconds into its second 5-on-3 opportunity when Ammons launched a right-circle wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage.

"We're killing 5-on-3s there, and that was tough," Handy said. "Those are things that we've got to refine and get better."

The Flames struck back when Ratzlaff received the puck from junior defenseman Joe Feamster and sophomore defenseman Jentzen Kaebel and unloaded his second goal of the game on a blast from the high slot that glanced off an Icepack defenseman inside the right post for the final score with 7:29 remaining in regulation.

"I liked our response," Handy said. "We can definitely put the puck in the net. Mac (Ratzlaff) works hard every night, and for him to score two goals tonight is just a byproduct of something we see every day in practice, how he works."

He said the refining process is critical at this formative stage of the season.

"At this time of the year we're trying to get better, and it's important for us to find the little details of our game that we've got to improve on," Handy said. "We watch video, and we'll work on that next week, and be ready to improve next weekend."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media