Men’s hockey dominates two-game series against NYU
Homecoming weekend brought more excitement to the Liberty Flames men’s hockey team and the stands were packed with parents and students waiting to see the Flames skate to victory against the New York Violets (NYU) two nights in a row.
On Friday, Oct. 19, the Flames had a slow start, but came back energized and ready to show NYU what they were made of in the third period. Liberty beat NYU 7-3, and this win caused high tensions and big energy for the next game.
Homecoming night, on Saturday, Oct. 20, had the Flames ready to do what they did the previous night and get a win against this conference team, the New York Violets. This time the score ended 5-0. Again, the Flames had a slow start but did not quit.
“We felt like we played overall well last night, and tonight we saw a big difference,” Coach Kirk Handy said. “We scored four power play goals, which was huge, and our penalty kill was 100 percent.”
The first period started off with no goals being scored, which caused Liberty to push harder.
Devin Pierce scored the first goal for the Flames in the second period with 13:49 minutes remaining. Pierce’s goal was assisted by Jordan Bochinski, and this power play goal helped the Flames focus on what they wanted, victory. Cole Gammer scored the second goal for the Flames, assisted by Brock Thompson.
Then with five seconds remaining, Thompson hit the puck to Quinn Ryan and they scored another power play shot. This would end the second period 3-0 for the Flames against the Violets.
“We built the momentum through hard work, and we can draw the penalties that can put us into a power play,” Handy said. “We wanted to keep our energy up on the bench, so we could work hard and outwork our opponents.”
The third period brought high tension from both teams, and this brought many penalties and Coach Handy did all he could to make sure his players were keeping their feet moving so they could pull through the win. With 9:01 remaining, Bochinski scored a power play goal with the assistance
of Gammer.
“The fans are crazy here, and it feeds into both teams,” Junior Garret Nelson said. “Luckily, we were on the receiving end of the penalties, which would help us. Tonight, we had more chances and we played in both zones, so that helped us pull off another win.”
The fifth goal and another power play was scored by Gammer, assisted by Kyle Crane and Garrett Nelson, with only 1:22 remaining in the third. The Flames kept up their liveliness against the Violets and left the score 5-0 which Liberty was happy with.
The Flames will return to action on the ice Oct. 26.