Women’s DI hockey national runners-up

The Lady Flames Division I hockey team (29-3) finished its season as the national runner-up after falling to Minnesota in the American Collegiate Hockey Association national championship game 2-0 at the Ashburn (Va.) Ice House Sunday.

The Golden Gophers (22-4-1) were the ACHA DI runners-up last year.

Along the way, the road to the final took Liberty to Boston where they edged defending ACHA DI champion Northeastern, 4-3 on Oct. 14, two days after completing a two-game sweep of Vermont in Burlington. It went through Wisconsin, where the Lady Flames split two games with Minnesota, and Chicago, where they split two games with Robert Morris Illinois, the team they barely survived in double overtime in Saturday’s semifinals.

Liberty rose to the No. 1 ranking after beating the Golden Gophers in late November and stayed there for the final three ACHA DI polls, beating two NCAA Division III teams in the process.

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