The Liberty University Men’s Division I Hockey team stepped into the barn past curfew on Friday night to sweep the University of Delaware 7-1 and 5-3 on Saturday in a weekend series Sept. 26-27.
Head Coach Kirk Handy and the Flames currently stand undefeated with a 6-0 record. The Blue Hens traveled to the LaHaye Ice Center looking to break Liberty’s streak in the first Midnight Mayhem game of the season.
Delaware won the opening faceoff to gain possession and start off the first period. Freshman forward Seth Wall snuck one past Delaware graduate student goalkeeper Jacob Snellenburg to put the Flames on the board.
Wall secured his goal with the help of freshman forward Seth Huygen and junior defenseman Luke Anderson three minutes into the first period.
“It was a big goal (and) a great play by Seth Huygen on the left side. I was just in the right spot and finished,” Wall told Club Sports. “The boys made a great play, and I just happened to be the one to bury it. I’m glad I could get the crowd going and get some momentum for us.”
With the Flames offense off to a hot start, senior forward Ryan Finch put one in the net with an assist from senior forward Aidan Carney to bring the Flames up 2-0.
Liberty continued to attack in the offensive zone as senior forward Michael DeBrito put one in between the pipes unassisted. All three of Liberty’s goals were scored within the first five minutes of the period.
“Those first three goals are huge,” Handy told Club Sports. “There’s a lot of momentum and energy that’s gained from those quick goals that we scored there.”
As tensions grew on the ice, scrums broke out resulting in multiple players taking a trip to the penalty box: Liberty freshman defenseman Michael Fischer and Delaware freshman defenseman Thomas Weekes, both for roughing.
Each team received 10 minutes of misconduct penalties, senior forward Sam Feamster for the Flames and junior forward Thomas Tracy for the Blue Hens.
Delaware managed to sneak past the Liberty defense resulting in freshman forward Mason Moore netting one with the help of junior forward Tanner Mahoney and sophomore defenseman Noah Goozh.
To extend Liberty’s lead even further, sophomore left wing Brad Barker scored on an assist from senior defenseman Connor Diem.
With the clock winding down, sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher, Delaware freshman defenseman Ryan Warner and sophomore forward Leighton Biesiadecki all took a trip to the sin bin putting Liberty on the power play.
The Blue Hens were able to hold off the Liberty offense with the extra man advantage to close out the first period 4-1.
Coming back in the second period, Diem picked up an early cross-checking penalty. Sophomore defenseman Michael Adamek followed closely behind with a penalty of his own for slashing.
The Flames successfully killed the Blue Hens’ power play before Warner took the two-minute bench penalty for Delaware after Goozh, an illegal player not listed on their provided roster, participated in the game. After this penalty was served, Goozh was permitted to remain on the ice.
Liberty continued to put pressure on Delaware with junior forward Luke Munroe slotting one in off a pass from Adamek and Finch. In just his first season with the Flames, Munroe is already making an impact with three goals over his first five games played.
Sophomore defenseman Joe Feamster wanted a piece of the action as he extended Liberty’s lead again with an assist off Barker and Wall. The second period ended with Liberty up 6-1 over Delaware.
The Flames continued to show their dominant offense with Fischer securing the final goal of the night with the help of DeBrito and Carney.
The Blue Hens continued to put up a fight through their game play and physicality as senior forward Austin Vecchio took a roughing penalty. The Flames picked up a penalty of their own with junior forward Mason Smith going to the penalty box with a five-minute major for grabbing a face mask.
Even with the extra man advantage, Delaware could not capitalize on the opportunity to net any more goals. The final period concluded in the early hours of Saturday morning with a 7-1 Liberty win.
The Flames and the Blue Hens returned to the ice at 7 p.m. Saturday night with Delaware looking for redemption.
The Blue Hens put up a fight against the Flames in the second game of the series but still fell to Liberty 5-3. The Flames completed their clean weekend sweep to remain undefeated.
“Our schedule is starting to strengthen so we obviously want to make sure that week in and week out our guys are getting better and getting prepared for the next week,” Handy said.
Liberty returns to the LaHaye Ice Center as they take on the University of Utah Oct. 3-4. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m. for both nights, and games will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Schlösser is the assistant sports editor for the Liberty Champion.