Men’s D1 Hockey Advances To ACHA National Semis After Two Strong Performances

Liberty men’s club DI hockey team started strong in its first game in the ACHA national championship, decimating the Maryville Saints 9-0 Friday, April 16, in Chesterville, Missouri.

Despite playing the Saints on their home ice in a critical win-or-go-home game, the Flames refused to be intimidated and proved that they deserved a spot in the tournament. The team acknowledged the high stakes of the game and rose to the occasion.

“It’s the first game of the national championship, so you have to play like it’s going to be your last game all the time. It doesn’t matter what team you’re playing against,” sophomore goalie Hunter Virostek said.

Despite scoring nine goals in the game, Liberty began the game sluggishly, ending the first period tied at 0-0. 

Prior to this game, the Flames had not played an official game since defeating Ohio University March 20, with the only other contest being a scrimmage against McKendree University April 13 to prepare for postseason. Coach Kirk Handy attributed the team’s early slog to the lack of recent competition as well as the team’s overexcitement entering the game. 

“I thought there were a little bit of nerves at the beginning of the game,” Handy said. “We hadn’t played in a little bit. We had a game the other day, but the intensity level was different.”

The team righted the ship midway through the second quarter with a Daniel Schwenke goal over the right shoulder of Maryville goalkeeper Ed Coffey. The goal sparked the Flames into life, and within five minutes goals by Dmytro Kobylyanskyi, Ryan Cox and Colin Baird stretched Liberty’s advantage to 4-0. With less than a minute remaining in the period, senior forward Brock Thompson found the net for a 5-0 Liberty advantage entering the second intermission. 

“When you get that first goal, the flood gates open a little bit once you can get on past them,” Thompson said. “I think it’s just that confidence we were able to get off that first goal by (Schwenke) and (we) just built off of that.”

Liberty refused to lessen its offensive pressure in the third period. Showing some impressive moves, senior center Ryan Quinn faked out Coffee to score at about the 14:30 minute mark. According to Liberty Club Sports, Quinn’s goal resulted in Maryville replacing Coffee in goal. 

Less than two minutes later, another goal by Thompson increased Liberty’s lead to 7-0. Kris Bladen and Brett Gammer added goals of their own for the Flames to wrap up the dominate offensive performance. 

“I think we’re really confident right now,” Thompson said. “We did really well, especially the second and third period. We played as a team. We battled together. We weren’t doing any dumb stuff after the whistles. We were just playing hockey.”

For Handy, the defensive shutout also highlighted how important Virostek is to the Flames this year.  

“Our goaltending’s been a staple of our team all year,” Handy said. “He played well, and I really thought in the first period, specifically, our defense kept the guys outside. They weren’t high-quality scoring chances, but when they were, Hunter made the saves for us. … It allowed us some time to settle back down and try to crank up the offense.”

“Shutouts are awesome. Especially in national championships, or any kind of playoffs,” Virostek said. “Shutouts are huge. The team helped me out a lot. They played really well. I did what I needed to do. I didn’t make any outstanding saves by any means. The team really helped me out.”

As the team prepared for its next game against Ohio University April 18, it hoped to learn from the mistakes of Friday’s game. Even in a lopsided victory, the best teams always manage to find and eliminate errors. For Handy, that means beginning the game with more authority. 

“I think we got a great opportunity to have a better first period and a better start,” Handy said. “That’s going to be something we are going to focus in on and have a better game plan going into the game on Sunday.”

As it prepared for a tough matchup against Ohio University, a team the Flames defeated on seven occasions and suffered one loss against in the 2020-2021 season, Thompson felt confident the Flames were ready. 

“We can just carry the confidence and the swagger we had,” Thompson said. “We’re the better team and we know we’re a really skilled team. When we play with that type of energy and that sort of confidence, it’s going to be really hard to beat us.”

Liberty followed up their performance against Maryville with a 10-2 demolition of University of Ohio. The team also played Monday against Minot State. 

Christian Shields is a Copy Editor. View his Facebook profile here.