Liberty D1 Men and Women’s Hockey Players Represent US At FISU Winter World University Games

Players from Liberty University’s Division 1 Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams earned the opportunity to represent the United States at the FISU Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy Jan. 13-23. 

The men’s team concluded the games in fourth place with an overall record of 5-2. As for the women, their games ended sooner, landing them in fifth place with a record of 3-2. 

“Something that every hockey player dreams of is representing their country at any stage,” freshman forward Michael Debrito said. “There was definitely a sense of pride through all of us that we took into every game, and we definitely played probably some of the hardest hockey of our lives.” 

Five members of the Men’s D1 Hockey team participated in the United States Men’s National University Team. Among the five were junior defenseman Laz Kaebel, senior forward Jacob Kalandyk, sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch, sophomore forward Ryan Finch and Debrito. The team was also joined by equipment manager John Cimba.  

For Kaebel and Kalandyk, this is their second time representing Team USA as they previously competed in the 2023 World Cup in Romania where they won a gold medal after defeating Team Canada 4-0.  

The Lady Flames’ D1 Hockey team also saw representation as senior forwards and captains Haley Battles and Brielle Fussy played for the United States Women’s National University Team.  

The women’s team began with a slow start, falling 6-3 to the Czech Republic and 5-0 to Japan to begin pool play. They found some momentum, however, as they went on to defeat Kazakhstan and Great Britain in back-to-back shutouts going 5-0 and 14-0. Battles contributed three goals in the win against Kazakhstan where she netted a hat trick in the team’s first victory of the games.  

The women’s team finished the games in fifth place with a 3-2 record after defeating Kazakhstan 8-2 in a consolation game. 

The men’s games opened with pool play where Team USA was off to a hot start, defeating Poland 6-2 and Japan 5-1. They faced tougher competition in their next game against Slovakia, but managed to pull off a 6-5 win after going into a shoot-out where Kausch blocked five shot attempts. They went on to defeat Ukraine 5-1, ending pool play in a four-game sweep.  

The quarterfinal playoffs began Jan. 19 where the men’s team advanced to the next round. They played South Korea in a high scoring game, in which all five of Liberty’s players contributed. Debrito saw the back of the net twice while Finch found a hat trick and Kalandyk scored a goal and had two assists. Kaebel made an assist as well, and Kausch protected the net to take the win 12-3.  

“It was amazing. Debrito was the leading scorer. Konrad went in. They had three goalies, but he played the majority of the games,” Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. “Finch played really well, and Kalandyk and Laz were leaders on the team because they had been there before.” 

The game was coming down to the wire and eyes were set on bringing some hardware back to the U.S. Team USA faced Canada two days later in a critical game. Unable to gain traction, Team USA found its first loss against Canada 10-2.  

This loss pushed Team USA into their final match against Ukraine where they battled for the bronze medal. Ukraine hit the ice with more fight than at their first meeting, being first to find the back of the net. Team USA failed to measure up, falling to Ukraine and ending their run in fourth place.  

The men’s players brought Liberty culture with them overseas as they led Team USA in prayer following each game, just as they do at home.  

“One really cool part was that they led the prayer after every game and had all the different countries praying with them,” Handy said. “That’s a really cool opportunity that God gave them.” 

Postgame prayer opened doors for the Gospel to be shared as they were able to get teams from across the world involved. 

“It’s so cool spreading the Word and the love of the Lord in countries where it’s not as prominent,” Kausch said. “We had countries like Japan, Korea, Ukraine and all the teams we played over there join us in prayer.”  

The players shared that this sparked a conversation with players from many of the teams they faced in which they were able to explain their faith to them and share the Gospel. 

“Being able to spread the Gospel is ultimately the biggest medal we could come home with,” Kausch said. 

White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion.