From Liberty Club Sports
By Ted Allen
Liberty netted the tying goal late in the second period to celebrate its annual ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ for Toys for Tots before adding two unanswered goals in the third period.
Forced into playing a grittier, more physical brand of hockey against Pittsburgh, Liberty University’s No. 9-ranked ACHA Division I men’s hockey team survived and advanced to finals week with a 3-1 victory, Saturday night at the LaHaye Ice Center, to head into Christmas Break on a seven-game winning streak.
“They came in here and they wanted it,” Flames senior forward Jason Foltz said of the No. 13 Panthers. “They were laying the body on us early, and that forced us to be physical back and into a different style of hockey we’re not usually used to. It was good to see that we could change our game, but still play our way.”
After a scoreless first period, Liberty failed to capitalize on a power play midway through the second and the Panthers pounced, taking advantage of a costly turnover in the Flames’ defensive zone. Edward Pazo stole a drop-back pass and skated the puck through the slot around a defenseman before backhanding an open shot past graduate goalie Hunter Virostek inside the left post for a 1-0 advantage with 7:24 to play in the second.
Moments later Virostek made a clutch save of a breakaway opportunity by Pitt’s Ben Leslie, who crashed into him after his shot was stopped under Virostek’s pads. The Flames went on another power play, but Pittsburgh generated more dangerous scoring opportunities shorthanded, with Virostek saving a shot in the left crease.
For the annual “Teddy Bear Toss” contest, fans waited patiently to celebrate the Flames’ first goal. That moment finally came when junior Jacob Kalandyk took a faceoff won by senior forward Truett Olson at the top of the left circle and fired a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the cage with 3:06 to play in the second period. The snipe of a shot tied the game at 1-1 and triggered an outpouring of stuffed animals onto the ice to benefit Toys for Tots and its Christmas gift drive.
Moments later, Virostek preserved the tie by making another save of a one-one-one breakaway by Pitt’s leading scorer, Olda Virag, who tried to jam the puck through the five hole from close range. Liberty’s penalty-kill unit shut out the Panthers on a 4-on-3 power play to end the period, setting the stage for a third period plagued by seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties following minor scuffles on the ice.
Liberty’s line of senior forwards Matt Bartel, Foltz, and Kam Ottenbreit manufactured both the go-ahead and insurance goals in the final nine minutes of regulation.
“Our line has been clicking really well ever since they put us back together because we played together at nationals,” Foltz said. “We’ve been playing very consistent. We know where each other is on the ice.”
Bartel received a pass across the slot from Foltz and lifted a sharp-angled shot from deep in the right circle that trickled up over the shoulder of Pittsburgh goalie Grant Lindsay and across the goal line for the game winner with 9:00 to go.
Then, the Flames capitalized on a power play for the first time in three chances on the night when Foltz received passes from Virostek and sophomore defenseman Nicholas Pomerleau and finished with authority, beating Lindsay through the five hole after skating wide on the right wing.
“That was just a great pick by Jackson (Vercellono),” Foltz said. “He picked the defenseman on the blue line and the other guy had a bad gap so I wheeled it wide and the goalie left the five hole open so I just tried to shoot it on net.”
Liberty outshot Pitt by a 49-28 margin and Virostek made 27 saves to secure the win. Liberty was whistled for nine penalties to eight for the Panthers.
Overall, it wasn’t the prettiest series, but the two wins against the first-place team in the ESCHL, where the Flames used to be members of, leaves a much better feeling for the Flames than when they were swept at Delaware, another former ESCHL foe, their last losses before starting the seven-game streak.
“Definitely not our best weekend … but the main thing is we came out and finished, got the job done, and still came out with two Ws against a decently ranked team to keep the momentum going for the next semester,” Foltz said. “I think we can win out the rest of the year. I’m very confident in this group of guys and I know what we’re capable of out there on the ice.”
On the last stretch of their Christmas Break, the Flames will fly to Finland for the second time in four years to serve through Operation Mobilization on a Jan. 4-13 trip organized by LU Send.
(Originally published at https://libertyclubsports.com/news/2023/12/2/mens-d1-hockey-di-flames-enter-christmas-break-on-seven-game-winning-streak-after-sweep-of-panthers)
