Liberty’s DI Women’s Ice Hockey Team Wins Weekend Bouts Against Indiana Tech

Immaculate success continued at LaHaye  Ice Center this weekend as the Lady Flames Division I hockey team completed its weekend sweep of Indiana Tech with a 3-1 win Oct. 22. This win, alongside the 5-0 victory Oct. 23, were the Lady Flames’ sixth and seventh wins of the season. 

Indiana Tech opened the scoring with 5:57 to go in the first period on an odd-man rush to give Indiana Tech an early 1-0 lead.  Sophomore forward Brityn Fussy’s power play goal from the right faceoff circle tied the game at one 1:14 into the second period. 

Head Coach Chris Lowes was pleased about his team’s response to the rocky start.

“We faced a little bit of adversity down 1-0,” Lowes said. “The game changes when you are down, so it was good to battle back in the second to find the equalizer.”

Both teams remained strong defensively throughout the rest of the second and most of the third period. Freshman defender Peyton Carle said the defensive approach to keep Indiana Tech quiet after the slow start helped keep the team mentally tough. 

“We started off a little slow, and we were struggling in our D zone,” Carle said. “We just needed to stay confident in the defensive zone while being patient, allowing pucks to flow without forcing anything.”

Liberty scored again around the three-minute mark when senior forward Shannon Fehr cashed in on a broken play with a quick far-side shot over the left shoulder of the Indiana Tech goalkeeper.  Fehr was excited to see her efforts pay off with the goal.

“That’s one of the spots I try to go to, and it doesn’t always go there, so it was good to see that it did,” Fehr told LFSN . “There’s really good chemistry with our line, and it was good to see us finally finish, and at a point where our team really needed it.”

The go-ahead goal was followed by a mid-ice empty netter from freshman forward Zosia Adamek.

Lowes said he was proud of both Adamek and Fehr for their offensive contributions.

“Shannon made them pay, and she has done that her whole career,” Lowes said. “She is just a shooter, and she picked her spot. Then, Zosia’s patience on the empty net was veteran out  there.”

Goalkeeper Amanda Storey got the nod both games this weekend, and she made 15 saves and improved to 4-0 with a whopping 0.75 GAA. Storey said her belief in the defensive core lightens the load in closer games. 

“I felt a little bit of pressure, but I just have a lot of confidence in my girls, and they did a good job,” Storey said. “I was jumping back there when we scored, so that was awesome.”

Lowes complimented the smaller aspects of Storey’s play as her emphasis on paying attention to detail elevates her play. 

“Her details, playing the puck, just doing the little things really takes her game to the next level,” Lowes said. “I thought it was a good weekend for her.”

The Lady Flames will face off next against Miami University Nov. 5 in Oxford, Ohio. 

Zehnder is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter.