The Flames split series with the Crimson Tide in weekend hockey games

 

• Flames Hockey Team follows Friday loss with Saturday victory against the Crimson Tide.
• Hard work from underclassmen contributed to victory and gives fans something to look forward to for coming years.

 

The Liberty University men’s ice hockey team (1-1) opened its regular 2017-2018 season with two games against the University of Alabama (1-1) at the Lahaye Ice Center Friday, Sept. 15, and Saturday, Sept. 16.

 

On Friday night—the first game of the series—the Flames lost 1-3 to Alabama. The Flames started strong with an early goal from freshman Sam Carlson, but they fell short in the end after Alabama scored back-to-back goals in the second period.

 

Alabama scored a goal in the second period followed by another in the third. Liberty’s Ryan Cox was ejected from the game with 3:37 remaining in addition to two penalties for Liberty, making it a 5-on-3 to finish the game.

 

Saturday was a much better game for the Flames, as they defeating the Crimson Tide 6-1. Graduate student and forward Grant Garvin said that the second game may have been better because the players were jitter-free after Friday’s loss.

 

In their 6-1 win, five different forwards scored, showing the versatility of all four lines. The Flames also outshot the Crimson Tide 42-27.

 

“On Friday night, we had a great first (period), but we kind of let off the gas pedal in the second and third,” sophomore defender Matt Cruickshank said. “Today, we just kept pouring it on in all three periods. We were aggressive and we won every battle which was huge.”

 

The first goal of the game and the final goal for Liberty were both scored by Garvin.

 

“Today we were going hard at the net and so it was bound to go in,” Garvin said. “Once one went in, we knew we were going to score a ton of goals. Every line had the same momentum.”

 

During the second period, Liberty dominated the game and was able to score three goals. Zak Hayes, Owen Harris and Brock Thompson all added goals to their stat sheets.

 

Hayes, a junior forward, scored early in the second period. His goal came after a faceoff on Alabama’s side of the ice. After his goal, there was a huge momentum switch for the Flames.

 

Not only was the momentum in the Flames’ favor, but the speed of play was faster. Penalties on both sides tried to slow the game, but Liberty handled each penalty very well and did not allow Alabama to capitalize on those scoring opportunities.

 

About halfway in the period, Harris scored on a long slap shot with assists from freshman Cole Gammer. The puck bounced off the goal post and slid.

 

Then four minutes later, a save from Alabama’s goalie Jessie Gordichuck resulted in an open net, which Thompson capitalized on.

 

Early on in the third period, Liberty forward Quinn Ryan added his name to the list of scorers with a bar down goal. Like the game on Friday, the game ended with penalties from both teams. On a 4-on-3 power play for Liberty, Garvin scored.

 

Then a misconduct penalty against Harris resulted in an Alabama power play goal from junior forward Dylan Teed.

 

Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy was happy with the Flames offense, but he also said that there were a lot of unsung heroes in the game such as Carlson, Hayes, Cox, goalie Josh Hamilton and junior Zechariah Roberts, who killed Alabama’s power play opportunities.

 

A lot of these guys did behind the scenes work that helped in killing the power plays as well as setting up shots or even assisting shots, and three out of Handy’s “unsung heroes” were underclassmen, leaving room for improvement.

 

“It definitely pays off when on defense you are blocking shots and winning battles and your forwards are getting the job done up front too,” Cruickshank said.

 

Handy also said the guys needed to limit their penalties.

 

“We would have liked to have given up less odd man rushes,” Coach Handy said. “I think that is something we want to bear down on and stay out of the penalty box. We took too many penalties tonight.”

 

Twelve of the 19 penalties were on Liberty players.

 

“They (Alabama) have a few guys on their team that are pretty talented, but we were playing the body and that kind of shut down their skill and speed,” Cruickshank said. “It definitely kind of helped that we were aggressive.”

 

The Flames play West Chester University at the Lahaye Ice Center next Friday and Saturday with the Friday game starting at midnight.