Liberty Men’s hockey opens season with 11-1 home victory over Dukes

The train horn blared for the 11th time Friday night as Flames forward Josh Fricks wheeled around the side of Duquesne’s goal and nudged the puck in from behind the goal post, sending the visibly deflated Dukes skating back to the center of the ice for the game’s last faceoff.

The LaHaye Ice Center was hot as the Liberty Flames men’s hockey team dominated its season opener 11-1 against the Duquesne Dukes. Flames fans and parents packed out the ice center for the Family Weekend game, leaving little but standing room for late fans and flooding the building with cheering.

Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said the win was the perfect start to the 2019-2020 season.

“It was a good start,” Handy said. “We have seven new guys on our team and I thought they played well. They came to play tonight. It’s a great way to start the year, the crowd was fantastic tonight, the energy was great and I think that really helps us out.”

Both teams came out strong in the first period, sending the puck back and forth down the ice for the first 10 minutes, even through a double penalty kill for the Flames. The three-man Flames team continued to fight, keeping the puck in Duquesne territory while freshman goalie Cedric Le Sieur made a crucial save without his stick.

The Flames took control of the game at the 9:58 mark when sophomore center Matthew Bartel guided the puck straight down the ice and sent a clean shot into the goal. 

The Flames kept the pressure up for the remainder of the period, refusing to let the puck leave Duquesne territory until it was in the goal. Liberty added two more goals to its tally by the end of the first period from senior forward Jordan Bochinski and Fricks, leaving the score at 3-0 in the first intermission.

The second period started the same as the first with both teams battling back and forth for possession until Flames sophomore forward Arturus Laukaitis rebounded a shot from Fricks into the goal at the 15-minute mark. The goal only added to Liberty’s momentum as sophomore forward Devin Melice chipped the puck in seven minutes later.

Duquesne refused to give up, however, responding with a goal at the 6:30 mark when Dukes forward Hayden Feck hopped the puck over Liberty goalie Cedric Le Sieur’s shoulder and into the goal, bringing the score to 5-1.

The Flames responded with overwhelming force, chalking up three more goals by the end of the second period and pushing the score to 8-1, well beyond Duquesne’s reach. 

The game slowed down in the third period, with the Flames pushing through their longest scoring drought of nine minutes until senior forward Quinn Ryan took charge, blasting the puck between the Duquesne goalie’s legs while simultaneously avoiding a collision.

The Flames finished out the game with two more goals to reach a final
score of 11-1. 

Out of those 11 goals, eight Flames scored, four of whom were sophomores. Only Fricks and Bochinski scored more than once, with Bochinski scoring two and Fricks completing a hat trick.

According to Devin Pierce, captain of the Flames, the high-scoring game was a good chance for younger team members to get their feet wet.

“It’s a good boost,” Pierce said. “It’s good to let guys get their first goals under their belts. We like to call it getting the monkey off their back so they’re not gripping their sticks as tight. That’s good for some of the first-year guys to get more comfortable and that’s really good for us.”

Handy said that the Flames team cannot afford to become complacent, however.

“We know it’s just one game, so we’re going to hit the reset button,” Handy said. “Duquesne is out of the way and we’re going to focus on IUP up next.”

The Flames will host IUP Thursday, Sep. 26, followed by their first Midnight Mayhem game of the season Friday at 11:59 p.m. when they host IUP a second time.