Liberty Men’s D1 Hockey Defeats Niagara University 2-1 During Midnight Madness Game

Liberty University’s Men’s D1 Hockey team defeated the Niagara University Purple Eagles 2-1 in overtime to conclude their final Midnight Mayhem game of the season Jan. 24.  

“You obviously want to win those games in regulation, but Niagara has a good team,” Head Coach Kirk Handy said. “I thought we played well tonight.” 

This victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Flames and gave them their first win against the Purple Eagles since being swept at their last meeting. 

The first period, despite seeing much action, remained scoreless. The Purple Eagles were first to try and find the net, but sophomore goalie Konrad Kausch did not allow the puck past him. Kausch has spent a lot of time between the pipes recently as this was his first home game after representing Team USA at the FISU Winter World University Games.  

The Flames laid their claim on the puck for the first half of this period, making several scoring attempts but failing to connect with the back of the net.  

The Purple Eagles responded with a quick shot of their own, but Kausch made the save by keeping the puck locked in between his knee pads. 

With six seconds remaining in the period, freshman forward Kal Essenmacher made a final shot attempt, but it was not enough to give the Flames a leg up to end the period.  

The second period began with the Purple Eagles making their way to the net, but again, Kausch blocked the shot.  

With a skirmish breaking out that landed several Purple Eagles in the sin bin, sophomore forward Ryan Finch laid one directly in the net for a power-play goal at 8:34. He was assisted by freshman forward Michael Debrito and senior forward Jacob Kalandyk. 

“That was a great power-play goal. We stuck with it,” Handy said. “We had hunger around the net, and at the end of the day, that is what you’re looking for … a little bit of jam around the net.” 

After a penalty left freshman defenseman Michael Adamek in the box, the Purple Eagles fired off a quick series of shots determined to capitalize off their offensive upper hand. None of their shots, however, would surpass Kausch, marking a successful penalty kill.   

“It was a great back and forth night for us,” Handy said. “We killed off all of the power plays that they had, and I thought that was a point of emphasis for us.” 

Kausch blocked the Purple Eagles final shot attempts, ending the period 1-0 in the Flames’ favor.  

The beginning of the third period did not see any change in score as each team took turns going back-and-forth with failed scoring attempts. The Purple Eagles finally broke the stalemate, finding their first goal at 12:16 to tie the score 1-1. 

With the midnight game already extending past the curfews of the packed crowd of students, the clock ran out in the third period leaving the score tied. The game was pushed into overtime, adding five minutes to the clock.  

Freshman center Tucker Shields wasted no time, finding the net 23 seconds in and ending the game in a Flames 2-1 victory to close out night one in the series against Niagara.  

“Sometimes you have to find a way to win these games, and we found a way tonight,” Handy said. 

White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion.