DI women’s hockey team earns ACHA-record fifth straight national crown

Clinching an ACHA Division I record fifth straight national championship was anything but a given for Liberty University’s No. 1-ranked DI women’s hockey team over the past three days at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass., near Boston.

The Lady Flames (26-2-1) survived three one-goal games capped by a 3-2 triumph over No. 3 Minot State (22-10-3), one of three teams to beat them this season.

“Today’s (championship) is very special and there were certainly a lot more moments where it didn’t feel like it was our year,” Lady Flames sixth-year Head Coach Chris Lowes said. “We’ve had other years that have gone very much to plan. We’ve gotten leads early, we’ve rested players. This year was just whatever we had to do.”

Liberty is the first team at any ACHA level to win five championships in a row, surpassing Penn State’s Division I men (1998-2003) and Life University’s Division II men (1997-2002) who both won five titles over six seasons.

“We just had to play our style of hockey,” said Lady Flames graduate forward and head captain Shelby Bradford, who like Lowes won her fifth title in six seasons, with COVID-19 cancelling an almost sure-bet championship run in 2020. “We couldn’t play to their level. We had to play our style with discipline, intensity, and execution and get the job done.”

Sophomore defenseman Madison Glynn recorded the first hat trick of her career, netting the equalizer in the final minute of the first period, the go-ahead goal early in the second, and the game-winner in the third.

“She was buzzing,” sophomore forward Haley Battles said. “Everyone was ready to go. We battled hard last night, had a bunch of adversity, down 4-1 (in a 5-4 overtime win over No. 4 Adrian). But we knew we just needed to grind it out and here we are, national champions, baby. It was a great feeling, for sure. All glory to God.”

>> Read the complete story on the Lady Flames’ Club Sports team page.