Men’s hockey team wins Midnight Mayhem game
The energy in the LaHaye Ice Center climaxed when the puck dropped at 11:59 p.m. Friday September 28. The sell-out “Midnight Mayhem” game between Liberty University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania shook with dancing, jeering, singing and screaming Flames fans.
Kirk Handy, now in his 19th season as Liberty University’s Division I men’s hockey head coach, said that it was one of the loudest home atmospheres the Flames have played in recent memory.
“Our club sports staff does a fantastic job creating an environment like that,” Handy said. “That’s conducive to our team (and we have been) enjoying it.”
After a disappointing first period, characterized by huge hits and scoring opportunities, Liberty trailed 0-1. For the next two periods, however, the Flames rewarded the explosive crowd with a 6-1 triumph that ended in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 29.
Junior forward Quinn Ryan netted a third period hat trick and sophomore forward Jordan Bochinski added a goal and an assist for Liberty (2-0), which improved to 7-0 all-time versus IUP and 5-1 in “Midnight Mayhem” games over the past three seasons.
The LaHaye Ice Center was sold out for the Midnight Mayhem game Friday night which ended in a 6-1 victory for the Flames. (Photo by Gabrielle Calhoun)
“Quinn’s a guy who has played well for us in the years gone by, but we really believe that the next couple years are going to be Quinn’s best,” Handy said of Ryan, who also had an assist to clinch a four-point night. “It was nice to see him get rewarded for his hard work.”
The ninth-ranked Flames came out aggressively, delighting the raucous crowd of 3,097, including the student section side of the arena that stood for the entire game.
But a physical forecheck and numerous chances in front of the Crimson Hawks’ freshman goalie Tyler Hawk did not result in any Liberty goals in the first period.
“I felt like we were shooting the puck well, we just needed some more traffic in front of him — he was seeing everything,” Handy said. “(But,) I liked our physical presence.”
A penalty for having too many men on the ice midway through the first period proved costly for the Flames as IUP’s forward Dominick Glavach scored a power-play goal from the point after fellow freshman Kyle Harris won an offensive zone faceoff to give the Crimson Hawks a 1-0 lead.
“Everyone was just a little jumpy, maybe gripping the sticks a little too tight,” Ryan said. “But we got the nerves out, and we were fine the rest of the way.”
Liberty sophomore forward Cole Gammer reenergized the building when he finished a give-and-go two-on-one breakaway with Ryan by slapping in the game-tying goal 51 seconds into the second period.
“That’s a huge goal,” Handy said. “We come out, we reestablish our game. … He was able to score quick and really turn the emotional tide of the game.”
Bochinski then gave the Flames the lead on a pinpoint shot through traffic that went over Hawk’s blocker and under the crossbar about seven minutes later.
A beautiful pass from defenseman Matt Cruickshank set up an easy goal for forward Devin Pierce early in the third period that gave Liberty a 3-1 cushion.
Ryan then took over, starting with a power play goal on a rebound after Bochinski made a beautiful move to get to the front of the net.
Ryan slammed in his second of the night after a shot from junior defenseman Garrett Nelson deflected right onto his stick.
Ryan completed the so-called natural hat trick by scoring on a 4-on-4 with 2:21 left.
“My teammates did most of the work for all those goals,” Ryan said. “I just got lucky and was able to put them in the back of the net.”
Goalie Cole Burack is beginning his senior year with the Flames. (Photo by Gabrielle Calhoun)
The Flames scoring burst in the second and third periods coincided with several penalties that were called on both teams.
There were a combined six minor penalties in a 2 minute, 50 second span in the second period and seven more minors called in the third, plus ejections for Liberty’s sophomore center Ryan Cox and IUP’s freshman forward Hunter Lanetz for fighting.
Handy did not see the overall chippy play as necessarily a negative aspect of the game, but rather a result of playing in such an emotionally-charged arena where every scuffle and check were cheered wildly.
He did, however, say that he thought the Flames could improve in their discipline of play as they try to give their enthusiastic fans even more to get excited about.
“That’s an area we really got to clean up,” Handy said. “I like the fact that we’re doing a lot of things right, but I think there’s still another gear (and) another level we have to get to.”