Thriving in adversity: Men’s D2 Flames open ACHA National Tournament with dramatic comeback win over Providence, 4-3

The Men’s D2 hockey team began its run in the ACHA National Tournament with a 4-3 victory over the Providence Argonauts in game one of three in pool play. The win was a welcome one for the Flames, who had been praying for it after the disappointment of their opening match in last year’s tournament.  

“All year we’ve been praying for adversity,” Flames senior defenseman and alternate captain Rece Poulin said postgame. “It’s something that we didn’t go through last year. And we got to nationals, we faced adversity in the first game and weren’t able to respond. This year, we have faced adversity all year. Ups and downs throughout the season. And honestly, coming into this game, we were like, we’re going to accept any adversity that we get. We got a lot of it going down 3-1, quick going into the third and went in the locker room, rejuvenated, and went back out and got the win.”

From the opening puck drop, there was a clear difference between the two teams, with the Flames looking faster and better coordinated, but that didn’t matter much when the Argonauts struck iron first, turning a breakaway into a goal just two minutes into the first period.  

The Flames rallied in response and answered with a goal from freshman forward Jacob Padgett, the younger of the two Padgett brothers on the Flames’ roster. The Argonauts countered the Liberty goal with their second of the game with just four minutes left to play in the first period.  

The first period ended with a score of 2-1 in favor of No. 3-seeded Providence, who would open the second period with their third goal of the game just 14 seconds into play. The second would be lower scoring and more rough-and-tumble than its predecessor as the Flames attempted to slow the game down and figure out a way past the Argonaut’s stalwart goaltender, Paul Jarvis.  

“(Jarvis) catches everything,” Flames junior winger Luke Tucker said. “It doesn’t matter (where it is). He reaches over to his blocker side. So, to find that spot (to score), maybe through a screen or something to just get away from his glove, was huge.” 

Tucker was the first Flame to find a way past Jarvis’ glove in the third and kicked off a three-goal run for the Flames.  

“(Antonio Vidal and I), we do it all the time in practice,” Tucker said, describing his goal and the assist from sophomore forward Antonio Vidal. “He cuts middle, drop pass. I just saw like a lane between the guy’s feet and kind of let it fly.” 

After Tucker’s goal 5:45 into the third the Flames regained their momentum that they entered the contest with, finding the back of the cage twice more. The first came off of a slapshot from sophomore defenseman Logan Johnson that junior forward Jared Matley carried into the net, and the second from freshman forward Aaron Higgins.  

“Providence is a great team,” Flames Head Coach Ben Hughes said. “Their goalie is so good. I thought we did everything that we’re supposed to do X’s and O’s wise, and it wasn’t really working out for a little bit. It was kind of hard to figure out the goalie, but I think it was a great come-from-behind win. It’s a great way to start our tournament run.” 

The Flames’ offensive struggles were due to more than just the opposing goaltender, but Liberty was able to fight through their cold opening to the game and find the net when it mattered most.  

“We just kind of got away from ourselves,” Tucker said. “We thought we were going to be able to play more skilled, and we weren’t. We had to get gritty and kind of chip pucks in and go get them. So it was a little change in our game, but we found our way through the third.” 

After their win on Monday, the Flames have a quick turnaround with round two of pool play against Army Tuesday, March 12 at noon. 

“I mean, (this tournament is) what we’ve been forward to looking for all year,” Tucker said. “Finally, it seems like everything’s falling together. So, we’re excited. We’re just looking game by game. Got this one out of the way, and now we’re ready to go for tomorrow.”

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X