DII Flames sweep Southeast Region rival Hokies at home and away

Friday, September 25

Lynchburg, VA

7:30 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Virginia Tech

Flames freshman forward Jacob Peterson scored the first goal of Friday night's opener against Virginia Tech at the LaHaye Ice Center. (Photos by Dawn Baker)

DII Flames sweep Southeast Region rival Hokies at home and away

9/29/2026 11:33:00 AM | Men's D2 Hockey

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Junior forward Anthony Emme netted three goals over the weekend, and the Flames scored four of the last five goals in the rematch to break open a 3-3 tie.

Gallery: (9-29-2026) DII men's hockey vs. Virginia Tech

Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team staged a home-and-home sweep of Virginia Tech over the weekend, netting the last two goals in Friday night's 3-1 victory at the LaHaye Ice Center before pulling away for a 7-4 triumph on the road 24 hours later by scoring four of the game's final five goals.

The rematch was played at the Lancerlot Sports Complex in Vinton, Va., where Liberty (3-1) formerly played its home games before the LIC was built on campus in 2006 and the Flames added a Division I team.

"It definitely felt good to get a sweep, considering at this time last year, we split with them," second-year Head Coach Christian Garland said. "We did a good job putting the games away this weekend, but we have lots to improve on. I thought the effort was really good on Sunday, and overall we are starting to find our rhythm, but we need to make some changes going into this weekend (home series against Army)."

Liberty and Virginia Tech traded power-play goals in the first period of the opener, with freshman forward Jacob Peterson starting the scoring off assists from sophomore forward Drake Perham and sophomore forward and alternate captain Cooper Fredericks.

Junior forward and alternate captain Anthony Emme netted both the game winner and insurance scores for the Flames. He finished feeds from Perham with 1:41 left in the first period and sophomore forward Boaz Sochaczevski with 18:40 remaining in regulation.
Sophomore goalie Sebastian Thome made 36 saves in his first start this season to secure the victory.

In Saturday's rematch, the Flames allowed two goals on the penalty kill and a third on an uncharacteristic mistake in the first period, which ended in a 3-3 tie, before freshman forward Hoyt Sorenson put them back on top to stay with a shorthanded unassisted score just nine seconds after the second-period faceoff.

Flames freshman center Jack Hanna started the scoring off assists from Perham and sophomore forward Seth Huygen just 1:15 after the opening faceoff before Virginia Tech's Max Sullivan answered with the equalizer at even strength 1:50 later. The Hokies seized a 2-1 advantage on a power-play goal by Michael McCabe with 14:46 to play in the first period.

Sophomore center Christian Houser tied it back up by finishing feeds from freshman forward Holden Ward at the 10:22 mark before Emme scored his third goal of the series off an assist from Sochaczevski with 7:45 left in the first to pull ahead 3-2.

Ethan Garlock retied the contest for Virginia Tech with 4:49 to play in the period before the Flames reclaimed momentum and control of the contest from the opening shift of the second. After Sorenson's heroics, sophomore defenseman Luke Russell provided the game winner off assists from Fredericks and freshman defenseman John Danks with 10:06 to play in the second.

After Albany Vaillant pulled the Hokies back within 5-4 at the 17:02 mark of the third, Chase Klute provided an insurance score off assists from Houser and Ward on a power play with 11:46 remaining in regulation. Huygen netted his first goal of the season to cap the scoring with 5:23 to go.

The Flames outshot Virginia Tech 53-37 and senior goalie CJ Sehlke made 33 saves.

Special teams play was up and down, and Liberty wasn't as effective at even strength as it had been in a season-opening split with reigning ACHA DII national Florida Gulf Coast University last weekend.

"We continued to score on the power play, which is good, but we struggled on the penalty kill all weekend long," Garland said. "When we were playing 5-on-5, we weren't as intentional or focused as I would have liked. We still carried and controlled play but didn't play with a whole lot of purpose or do the things we did so well last weekend. Part of that is being a younger group and finding that consistency."

He said that will need to change if the Flames are going to upset teams such as the University of Tampa — which ended their 2025-26 season in the second round of the Southeast Region tournament last February in Cincinnati — when the Spartans visit the LIC Oct. 9-10, and 2025 ACHA DII National Champion Lindenwood, which will host Liberty Oct. 16-17 at the Centene Community Ice Center, home of the national tournament near St. Louis.

"If we want to beat the top teams in the league, we need to play to our identity of being really tenacious and gritty and structured, especially with our defensive systems," Garland said. "We need to find more consistency and balance and use our depth. We have a healthy competition week-in and week-out for players — from our goalie up to our defensemen and forwards — to get into the lineup, which is a good thing."

The Flames will welcome the Black Knights to the LIC on Saturday at 10:15 p.m. and Sunday at 12:45 p.m. Liberty is 4-0 all-time against Army, winning in pool play at the 2024 and 2025 ACHA DII National Championships before sweeping the Black Knights in a Jan. 31-Feb. 1 home series last season to rise above the .500 mark for the first time.

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