Liberty Division I women’s hockey decidedly shut out the University of Rhode Island 14-0 Jan. 14 in its first series back from winter break.
The Lady Flames enter the spring stretch of the season 14-0, continuing to build on a 29-game winning streak that dates back to last season when the squad won its fourth national championship.
Sophomore goalie Amanda Storey started in net for the Lady Flames as the usual starting goalie, Kylie Mebs, remained sidelined due to injury. Mebs is expected to return to the ice for the team’s matchup next week versus Indiana Tech.
As the Lady Flames took to the ice, they methodically worked the puck and wore down the Rhode Island defense. The first goal came quickly as sophomore forward Brityn Fussy sped past the Rhode Island defense to score on a fast break. Liberty would put away two more to gain a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the second period.
The Lady Flames wasted no time getting back from the break, going up 4-0 within the first minute of the second period. The teams continued to battle with Liberty holding possession for most of the period. After a scoreless 13 minutes, the Lady Flames broke the scoring drought with an impressive fast break goal, followed by two more scores to close out the second period 7-0.
The Lady Flames lit the net up in the final period. Freshman forward Haley Battles started the scoring frenzy with her second goal of the game before the team followed with two more goals within five minutes. The Lady Flames then netted four goals in the last four minutes of play to close the game with a decisive 14-0 shutout.
Liberty’s depth played a key factor in the victory, evident from the fact that Liberty freshmen accounted for seven goals.
Liberty entered the second game of the series against Rhode Island confident from the blowout in the first game. The Lady Flames were on the attack, outshooting Rhode Island 50-14 on the day. They took a quick 7-0 lead in the first period and closed out the series with another double-digit shutout, winning 10-0.
The Lady Flames (16-0) will travel to play No. 7 Indiana Tech (15-4-1) for a two-game series Jan. 21-22. Their next five games will be on the road before returning home for the final series of the semester Feb. 18-19.
Head Coach Chris Lowes is looking forward to the upcoming games.
“The girls still have plenty of early-semester excitement, and as we prep for Indiana Tech next weekend, they will be fired up,” Lowes said. “(The Warriors) are a first-year program, and they were good when we played them early in the year, so I suspect they’ll be an even better team, and I hope they feel the same way when they see us play — that we’re ahead of where we were the last time we skated.”
SHEALY is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter