Flames D1 women’s hockey team impresses in preseason exhibition game

The reigning five-time ACHA D1 nation champions Lady Flames hockey team returned to the ice Sept. 23 to take on the Washington Pride U19 travel team in an exhibition home opener, shutting them out 2-0.  

From the opening face-off, the Pride was able to get the puck into the defensive zone, ripping a shot off that went wide. However, senior goalie Amanda Storey remained composed in the net, making the saves in the ensuing scrum. The Flames were able to gain possession of the puck and race up the ice, with senior forward Brityn Fussy getting a shot off, but Pride goalie Alejandra Erdman was in position to make the save. Despite the Lady Flames ability to maintain good offensive zone time and find scoring opportunities, the first period would end with both teams scoreless.

The Flames came out hungry and ready to score in the beginning of the second period, gaining offensive zone time early on. About seven minutes into the period, Erdman would be tested yet again with a big slapshot from junior defenseman Madison Glynn. But, Erdman would make the save. With about 11 minutes on the clock, junior forward Haley Battles danced around the Pride defensemen, getting a shot off that barely went wide. Storey would also get her share of action, making an impressive save at the 7:30 mark. The team continued to generate scoring opportunities, with junior defenseman Peyton Carle dishing out a pass to Battles that also went wide.

Towards the end of the period, the Pride would get their opportunity to go on the power play, but Storey and her teammates killed off the penalty, thwarting any scoring opportunities for the Pride. Battles continued to impress, skating past the Pride defense for another scoring opportunity, but despite her effort, the shot would end up in the chest of Erdman, notching another save. 

It would not be until the final seconds of the second period that the goal drought would be broken, with junior forward and alternative captain Brielle Fussy scoring a close-range forehand goal with 28 seconds left after receiving a cross-crease pass from graduate forward Yannick Truter.

This momentum would carry over into the third period for the Lady Flames as Glynn took a shot from the point. This would deflect off the stick of Truter, going deep into the left crease, where Fussy took the shot, smacking the post before it hit the back of Erdman and rebounded into the net for the second goal of the afternoon for the Flames. 

“I knew as soon as we got one, more would come,” Fussy said. “When you can’t find a way to score, the clean-up goals definitely have to come out.” 

The Lady Flames would end up being victorious, outshooting the Pride 36-15, with Storey making all 15 saves for her first shutout of the year. 

“For our first skate as a team, we’re happy,” Lady Flames Head Coach Chris Lowes said. “We did enough things well. We didn’t make any major mistakes and short of missing on some great scoring chances, we did what we needed to.”

Fussy was also pleased with the team’s performance. 

“We did well keeping pressure in the offensive zone as well as being defensively sound in our own end,” Fussy said. “We can improve on our execution and being able to put pucks in the back of their net, but overall, (it was a) solid win against a solid team.”

Lowes and his team were scheduled to play Hockey Training Institute (HTI) on Thursday and Friday in home games later this week, but the games were canceled due to travel issues for HTI. The Lady Flames will be back in action Oct. 6, meeting McKendree University at 1:30 p.m. in the LaHaye Ice Center.

Pais is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion