November 4, 2020 Â |Â Lynchburg, Va.Â
The Flames tune into instruction from first-year Head Coach Josh Graham during practice at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Liberty University’s ACHA Division III men’s hockey team was one of only two teams from the Southeast Region to remain in the league this season, with Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) being the other.
“There was a pretty seismic change in the offseason as 45 teams from the Southeast Region moved to the College Hockey Federation (CHF), a competing non-varsity governing body,” said Flames first-year Head Coach Josh Graham, whose team is the only DIII program in the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL) that stayed in the ACHA. “Now, we don’t have a conference so we are playing as an independent and looking at some scheduling options.”
The exodus of teams from the ACCHL and the Southeast and South College Hockey Conferences to the CHF leaves less than 100 teams at the ACHA DIII level. Rather than having regional rankings determine the 10 teams from each region contending for two ACHA National Championship bids this year, the top 16 teams in a final national ranking based on a coaches poll will determine the tournament field.
Needing at least eight games against four different ACHA teams to be eligible for nationals, Graham is hopeful he will be able to schedule between 12-16 games for the spring semester, including FGCU and a couple other schools in a mid-March showcase at the LaHaye Ice Center. Rather than the Southeast, most of the Flames’ regular-season opponents will come out of the Atlantic Region, which includes schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
This Friday at 9:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Liberty will open its season against Coastal Carolina.
“The Coastal Carolina games are important to us since last year, when we went to the ACCHL tournament, that was the team that knocked us out in pretty convincing fashion,” Graham said. “The guys who were on the team last year are pretty motivated to face them again.”
The Chanticleers moved up to the Division II level over the summer, remaining in the ACCHL.
“It should be a good contest and a good gauge to see where we’re at for next semester,” Graham said. “After practicing since beginning of September, it will be good to give our guys some game experience.”
 The Flames feature a young squad with 13 freshmen on their 25-man roster.
“The team is quite different from last year with guys from literally all over the country — California to Colorado to New Hampshire, a couple from Virginia, and everywhere in between,” Graham said.
He will look to sophomore forwards Jaime Ross and Will Fortugno, who both played on the Flames’ Division II team last year, to strengthen the DIII attack.
“They have jumped in and shown some pretty good skill and we will count on them for offense and structural play,” he said.
The Flames’ offense is anchored by sophomore Kenneth Fogarty, one of the leading scorers on the team last year, and senior Scott Chisolm, a very smart playmaker who is coming into his own for the Flames this season, according to Graham.
Chisholm and senior defenseman T.J. Moores, the Flames’ only two Canadian players, were selected as assistant captains this fall. Graham plans to name two more at the start of the spring semester before designating one of the four as head captain.
Freshman defenseman Graham Wood provides a steady base for the Flames on the back end. He will often be paired with Moores, who brings physicality and intensity on the ice.
Daniel Hauke, younger brother of former DII player Micah Hauke, is a speedy and agile freshman adept at sparking rushes from the defensive end.
Graham is excited about the two new goalies added to the roster this season, sophomore Ben Algatt and freshman Kyle Wesbury, who will platoon in place of sophomore Stephen Sanders, who was promoted to the DII team this week.
“Both are athletic, but they have different playing styles,” he said. “Kyle is a big, steady presence in the net and has a more controlled style of game, whereas Ben relies on his quickness and athleticism to make saves.”
He will look for more players to emerge as leaders in the spring, when he believes the Flames can contend for a spot in the ACHA DIII National Championships.
“My main goal is to get this team to a competitive position to start making nationals regularly and compete at the top level,” Graham said.
This weekend’s series against Coastal Carolina will be streamed live by LFSN and broadcast on 90.9-FM The Light, the student radio station, which will also be airing the DII men’s games against North Carolina State, set for 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Â
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Hayden Robertson/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant
