The Liberty University Men’s Division III Hockey team made program history on March 15 as they took the first-ever men’s hockey national championship win for the school.
“I’ve been fortunate and blessed to be able to play this game for as long as I have but I’ve never been able to be part of a group like this,” junior defenseman Jared Meyer said. “The way that every guy had one another’s back and gave 110% for the guy next to him, that’s what gave us the opportunity to do what we did.”
After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship hosted in Lynchburg, the DIII team had its sights set on something greater — winning the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championship. Prior to this win, the Women’s Division I Hockey team had been the only members of the Liberty Hockey program to take home a national title.
“It was awesome,” Head Coach Joshua Wagner said. “The guys deserve it. It was a great season.”
The Flames went 5-0 in the tournament, earning 32 goals and only allowing four throughout the series.
Entering the bracket as the No. 1 seed, the Flames had a second-round bye where they took victory against Buffalo State University in a 9-2 win, March 11. From there, they defeated High Point University 5-1, March 12 and Fairfield University 5-1, March 13, before earning a spot in the Final Four and advancing to the semifinals.
The tournament moved from double elimination to single, causing the season to ride on the semifinal matchup between Liberty and Columbia University on March 14. The Flames entered the competition with more momentum than ever as they defeated Columbia 10-0 in their first shutout of the tournament.
From there, the Flames faced a familiar foe, St. John Fisher University, the same team that knocked them out of the 2025 tournament in the third round of pool play. St. John Fisher lost in the final rounds, so both teams were eager to come out on top during the rematch.
The Flames hit the ice Sunday afternoon with fire in their eyes, determined to leave Jacksonville as national champions. With this momentum, Liberty struck first with a goal by sophomore forward Aiden Hannegan just three minutes following puck drop.
“You could tell from the vibe inside the locker room, they decided early on that nobody was going to stop us, and they followed through,” Wagner said. “As soon as the puck dropped, everyone on the bench knew they wanted that game. They were so dialed in, and they gave everything they had. All glory goes to God for blessing us with this team and the chance to be here.”
In the second period, freshman forward Luke Kim kept the fire burning, bringing another one between the pipes. Despite the Cardinals’ efforts to rally, an aggressive Flames defense held them off.
With two minutes remaining in the second period, graduate student forward Roman Lamoureux scored on a power play to earn the Flames their final goal of the competition making the score 3-0.
Despite the Cardinals’ best efforts, they could not break down the wall set by junior goalie Trey Thompkins, who earned his second shutout of the tournament and was named MVP following the game.
“I couldn’t have drawn it up better myself,” Wagner said. “It was great redemption from last year, a great tournament, and we were able to pull it off. The boys were rolling. We just have a lot of very talented individuals on this team, and the brotherhood and culture we had inspired guys to be better, learning and growing as a team. That was a huge factor.”
As the clock ran out, the Flames piled onto Thompkins against the boards with celebratory shouts and tears of joy as they cemented themselves into Liberty Hockey history as AAU Division III national champions.
“A lot of credit goes to coach Wagner and the way he led our team and got everyone to buy into the vision he had. I was fortunate to play with him on DII and be close with him there and he’s the same as he was back then … always willing to lead and help the guys around him,” Meyer said. “But in the end, all the glory goes to our heavenly father and bringing together all these young men to do something very special.”
White is the editor in chief for the Liberty Champion.