Team News

Home-and-home series with perennial powers Adrian College, Minot State, Ohio, Stony Brook, and UNLV and a first-ever meeting with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s NCAA Division I program highlight Liberty University’s ACHA Division I men’s hockey team’s 2022-23 regular-season schedule, which was released this week.

“We always want to have the best strength of schedule in the country, and this is the strongest schedule that we’ve ever had, based on the quality of our opponents,” Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. “It is super exciting for us to have this schedule in front of us. I believe Minot State, Adrian, and UNLV will all be Top 5 teams and Stony Brook, Ohio, and Maryville should all be Top 10 programs.”

Liberty, which dominated No. 11 Illinois in the opening round of the nationals in St. Louis in March before being eliminated by No. 4 UNLV in the quarterfinals, landed at No. 6 in the final ACHA DI rankings. Handy hopes the Flames will be even more battle-tested going into the 2023 nationals.

“As players and coaches, we want to play the best teams night-in and night-out, because that is what makes you better as a program, and gives you the opportunity to move up the rankings,” he said, noting that 2021-22 national champion Lindenwood University is transitioning to NCAA Division I, opening the door for Liberty to climb into the Top 5.

The Flames will open play with back-to-back games against ACHA Division II opponents North Carolina State on Sept. 16 and West Virginia University on Sept. 23 at the LaHaye Ice Center.

Their 31-game schedule will again feature three “Midnight Mayhem” games — against Niagara on Oct. 1, Maryville (Mo.) University on Dec. 2, and UNLV on Jan. 21.

Liberty will take its first road trips to Minot State and Adrian in early October before traveling to UNLV in mid-November, playing Anchorage on the first of three nights there. The Flames will conclude the regular season with three consecutive home series in February — against Adrian, Ohio, and Minot — setting the stage for the March 16-21 ACHA DI National Championships at the eight-rink New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass., near Boston.

Liberty ACHA Division I men’s hockey 2022-2023 schedule

Sept. 16 – North Carolina State, 7 p.m.

Sept. 23 — West Virginia, 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 — Niagara, 7 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Niagara (Midnight Mayhem)

Oct. 7 — at Minot State, 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 — at Minot State, 7 p.m.

Oct. 14 — at Adrian College, 7 p.m.

Oct. 15 — at Adrian College, 1 p.m.

Oct. 28 — Robert Morris, 7 p.m.

Oct. 29 — Robert Morris, 7 p.m.

Nov. 4 — Stony Brook, 7 p.m.

Nov. 5 — Stony Brook,  7 p.m.

Nov. 11 — Delaware, 7 p.m.

Nov. 12 — Delaware, 7 p.m.

Nov. 17 — Alaska Anchorage (at UNLV), 10 p.m.

Nov. 18 — at UNLV, 10 p.m.

Nov. 19 — at UNLV, 10 p.m.

Dec. 2 — Maryville (Midnight Mayhem)

Dec. 3 — Maryville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 13 — at Ohio, 7 p.m.

Jan. 14 — at Ohio, 7 p.m.

Jan. 20 — UNLV, 7 p.m.

Jan. 21 — UNLV (Midnight Mayhem)

Jan. 28 — at Stony Brook, 8:30 p.m.

Jan. 29 — at Stony Brook, 3:30 p.m.

Feb. 3 — Adrian College, 7 p.m.

Feb. 4 — Adrian College, 7 p.m.

Feb. 17 — Ohio (Star Wars Weekend), 7 p.m.

Feb. 18 — Ohio (Star Wars Weekend), 7 p.m.

Feb. 24 — Minot State, 7 p.m.

Feb. 25 — Minot State, 7 p.m.

March 16-21 — ACHA Division I National Championships near Boston

(Home dates in bold)