Lady Flames celebrate seventh ACHA DI national title, edging Saints 2-1 in 2OT

Senior forward and alternate captain Zosia Adamek’s game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime lifted Liberty University’s No. 1-ranked ACHA Division I women’s hockey team to a 2-1 triumph over No. 2 Maryville (Mo.) University in Friday afternoon’s National Championship game at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo., the Saints’ backyard outside of St. Louis.

Maryville (24-10-5) only became an ACHA Division I program in 2021, and Friday marked its first appearance in the championship game. Liberty (26-3) has frequented the final, winning its first in 2015 before proceeding to capture an ACHA-record five crowns in a row from 2018-23. After having that streak snapped by Minot State in the semifinals last season in double overtime, the Lady Flames’ seventh national title ranks as one of their sweetest, after erasing a 1-0 deficit as they had in Thursday’s 5-2 semifinal win over No. 4 Midland (Neb.) University.

Backed by a loud student-body crowd from nearby Chesterfield, Mo., rallying in the Saints’ offensive end, Maryville maintained the pressure throughout the majority of the second period. In the opening minute, the Saints nearly scored on a pass across the open slot from Sarah Brooks to Sydney Poisson, who lifted a backhanded shot over the goal guarded by Lady Flames junior Alex Keith.

Following a few more narrow misses, Maryville broke through with the game’s first goal with 7:06 to play in the period when Haley Beckett rocketed a shot from the right circle into the top-left corner of the net off an assist from Brooklyn Gillings.

The Lady Flames attempted to mount a counterattack with their top line of Adamek and sophomore forward Ellie Sarauer, sparking a fast break and setting up senior forward and head captain Brielle Fussy’s right-circle shot that veered wide. Later in the period, senior defenseman Sammy Peebles intercepted a clearing attempt in the high slot but had her wrist shot gloved by Maryville goalie Kaitlyn Cadrain.

Liberty went on the power play at the 17:11 mark of the third period when Beckett was called for boarding in the offensive corner. The Lady Flames capitalized with the equalizer seven seconds later when junior defenseman and alternate captain Emerson Oakes put away sophomore defenseman Sophia Adamek’s pass from behind the cage with a low shot from deep in the left crease inside the right post.

The play went back and forth for the next seven minutes before Liberty made a steal and started a fast break with freshman forward Tristan Craig and Haley Lee working a give-and-go pass sequence up the middle of the ice before Lee was taken down and crashed into the backboards after her shot from the left crease was blocked.

Senior defenseman Madison Glynn, trailing the play, lifted a follow from the high slot just over the cage before play was stopped and DI women’s hockey athletic trainer Kira Turner and Club Sports Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Angie Witt attended to Lee, who suffered a lower-body injury but returned to the game.

After a scoreless first sudden-death 20-minute overtime period, the Lady Flames struck for the game-winner just 2:06 into the second when Zosia Adamek gathered the rebound off a perimeter shot by Glynn and made a phenomenal move with the puck. The championship final MVP reversed direction to shed a Saints defenseman at the top of the left circle before skating into the open circle and firing the game-winning wrist shot inside the left post, starting a spontaneous on-ice celebration.

The Lady Flames outshot Maryville 49-37, though the Saints held a 16-15 advantage in the two overtime periods.

Liberty entered Friday’s championship game having won 10 of the 11 previous showdowns with the Saints. The Lady Flames swept a series at the LaHaye Ice Center against then-No. 1 Maryville on Nov. 1-2, starting with the first Midnight Mayhem matchup in program history, which they won 2-1 in overtime. A week later, Liberty defeated the Saints for a third time in the fall semester, 5-3 in the WMCH Showcase at the Maryville University Hockey Center, before losing their only game of the spring semester on Jan. 30 in Chesterfield, Mo.

Since then, Friday’s final was the Lady Flames’ 10th consecutive victory, including three in the WMCH Tournament and four at the ACHA DI National Championships.