DIII Flames overcome by Chanticleers in OT in ACCHL final | Club Sports

March 23, 2021  |  Winston-Salem, N.C. 

Liberty University’s ACHA Division III men’s hockey team advanced to the ACCHL Division III Championship final for the first time over the weekend at the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Fairgrounds rink.

The Flames edged High Point, 3-2, in Friday’s quarterfinal and bounced back from three straight losses to Tennessee over the previous three weeks to win a late Saturday night semifinal against the Volunteers, 4-2. In Sunday’s final, Liberty lost to Coastal Carolina in overtime for the third time this semester, 3-2.

Flames senior TJ Moores (96) and freshman goalie Kyle Wesbury (29) line up for the National Anthem before Sunday’s championship game against Coastal Carolina.

The Chanticleers had rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Tennessee, 7-6, on Friday and eliminated East Carolina by the same score in Saturday’s semifinal in a game that featured six lead changes.

Liberty, which finished 4-3 against Coastal Carolina this season, was leading the championship game 2-1 with five minutes remaining in regulation before the Chanticleers netted the equalizer and forced the five-minute sudden-death extra period, when they scored the game-winner on a power play.

“They got some lucky puck bounces and their goalie made a couple really key saves,” said Flames first-year Head Coach Josh Graham, who was named ACCHL Coach of the Year. “We got called for a tripping a minute and a half into the overtime and they stretched us out and got a nice rebound off a shot blocked by (freshman goalie) Kyle (Wesbury) and put it into the open net.”

Despite missing two players sidelined by injury, one out of town for a wedding, and having two others playing through injuries, the shorthanded Flames (7-6-3) rose up and played some of their best hockey of the year in the season-ending tournament with only nine forwards and four defensemen on hand.

“We had to battle through a lot of adversity, and the guys did and unbelievable all things considered,” Graham said. “They outperformed themselves and really wanted it. Making our first-ever conference championship appearance gives our four seniors a really good memory that they got to play for one and makes our returning guys hungry to win next year. We accomplished a lot and I am really proud of how the guys played and competed. It sets us up well for next year, when we are healthy and will have a full team after we reload.”

Liberty was playing without freshman forwards Josh Neville, who recently had shoulder surgery, and William Smiley, who was out with a concussion. Junior defenseman Mike Eisaman played through a shoulder injury and junior forward Andrew Dower a lower-body injury.

Against High Point, senior forward Scott Chisholm scored first before freshman Graham Wood netted the Flames’ second goal on a power play before freshman forward Mike Williams stretched Liberty’s lead to 3-1. 

Against Tennessee, Chisholm scored Liberty’s first goal before sophomore forward Kenny Fogarty netted the next two, including the game-winner with 1:57 left in the third period. Sophomore defenseman Jordan Chamberlain tacked on an empty-netter with 40 seconds to go and Flames sophomore goalie Ben Algatt shut the Volunteers down between the pipes.

“We played arguably one of our best games of the year,” Graham said. “The guys really bought into the systems we’ve been practicing. We killed off five penalties and got a complete effort from the net out. Everyone played super disciplined and we skated really well and got some timely plays from guys to score goals.”

Senior defenseman TJ Moores scored a shorthanded goal and Fogarty capitalized on a power play for a 2-1 lead against Coastal, which looked like it might stand up as the championship game-winner.

“We only gave up seven goals in three games as all four of our defensemen really stepped up and did their best defensive work all year,” Graham said of Moores, freshmen Graham Wood and Jacob Brown, and sophomore Jordan Chamberlain. “It was a full team effort, and the guys did a really good job of buying in. They all played to the best of their abilities.”

 

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer