SPEAKER_01 0:23

And welcome back to the Rock and Reef podcast. Patrick Crown joined by Christopher and Justin Ford. And guys, an exciting weekend that really happened here on the campus of Liberty University between not only our four teams that were here, but also a big thriller on the road for Women's D1, which will get into all the teams. Starting off with men's Division I big comeback victories for the Flames. Now they've got a little bit of a streak going three games in a row. They've been able to win versus top 10 teams. Comeback fashion, go down 1-0, win 3-1 versus Mary Mel, then go down 1-0, then 3-1. Find a way to come back and pull out a 5-3 victory versus the Saints. So huge for Liberty. And also a big caveat, too. First time since they've started that series, they've been able to sweep them at home.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Yeah, no, it's it's exciting, right? Obviously, a tough start to the semester. You lose your first three and then make some adjustments, and then you've you've won the last three against, again, uh, we talked about a top 10 team's really good, really good programs, uh, especially Maryville coming in uh on a road trip. And I thought the the Flames did a good job proving that, like, hey, we're a really tough team to play against at home. Yeah. Um, and we're gonna come in in layers. And like you said, like a good comeback, a couple good comebacks. Uh, I thought the guys dug deep and and got the job done and did the little things right and did it when they needed it.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

It's very exciting time to be a flame right now, right? Like we were kind of uh as a as a coaching staff, me in the weight room, you know, throwing in my two cents of like there's so much hockey left to play, and if we just can consistently getting better, and I think we saw a lot of that this weekend. Uh especially like, you know, we'll get into it, but the the multiple goal scores, the ways in which we were able to, you know, come back from being down, and those are things that really start to add up come March time, right? Right. Just like having that confidence of all right, maybe down one, maybe down two, but we know when we can score, we can score in bunches, and yeah, just building a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum. Still some things that I think all of us would like to have cleaned up a little bit, right? It wasn't a perfectly clean weekend, so to speak, but a lot of confidence for me moving forward, and I think momentum building up to our last four games of the regular season.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah, Maryville does an excellent job really mucking up the game, right? And definitely consistently playing playoff style hockey, I feel like game in and game out in the regular season, and then they just carry that over to the postseason. So, one thing that we do need to note, obviously, like we talked about adjustments, big adjustment made. Obviously, Flames had a lot more bodies, five different new players that were in this game that weren't in the first lineup. But PK, seven for seven on the weekend. Gotta love that. Especially that was the difference maker in game one over, or sorry, the only game they played at the Maryville Showcase. All the goals that Maryville scored were on the power play, and then you got two power play goals. So that's kind of huge, too. Slowly, that power play looks like power play unit two starting to really find its legs.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Yeah, I mean, obviously, three for seven has a much better ring than uh, you know, two, whatever. Um, but also they they also got a short-handed goal. Yeah. Um, so PK was a little more than perfect, right? So I think that just bumps up the the danger uh and the elite level of the special teams. So obviously the coaching staff and the players are getting on the same page and they're and they're doing good things.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

We talked about it last week of especially as you head into postseason. Anytime there's a penalty, it's you know, your your blood's pumping for the excitement opportunity there, or your blood's pumping for like the fear of like, oh no, this is always a big moment of big play. So to be able to you know go seven for seven on the PK, huge, keeps building confidence. And if we remember to last year, it was right around this time as well. Uh they put together a uh power play unit that just really seemed to start to roll. I forget, uh I believe um Mike Admac was running the point on that one. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Um up top and Tucker Shields, Hayden Demars, uh Mason Smith, and then um Themester.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And just like it just started to work, really started to flow and connect, and that absolutely carried over uh in international. So hopefully, yeah, we start to ride a little bit of that momentum.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Let's bring it back. Let's roll it back.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

There we go. I love it. Oh, yeah. So yeah, we talked about the different goal scores, six different goal scores on the weekend for LU, which is huge, scoring eight goals, obviously. Monroe and Ratzlaf, uh two big goals that they were able to score. Um, back-to-back games for Ratzlaf. Essenmacher got the basically the go-ahead goal in the dying stages of a power play. Uh so really almost three power play goals were scored in that game. And then obviously um uh Finch Shields and Bronson Hunt with two apples, Michael Debrito, one goal, one assist along with Carney and Cock. Or sorry, Carney and Coxmith. So like a lot of great distribution happening throughout this lineup. And it looks like now Conrad Kause starting to peak and become what we were hoping he was gonna be after or coming into the season now, three games in a row after a big shutout versus Adrian, which even Coach Hogan talked about that doesn't happen often, which I'm if I'm mistaken, might be the only shutout they've had this year. So, and scored five, but then also 19 for 20 in game one, 22 of 25, and he had to make some big saves this weekend for LU. So is this starting to put some belief now for this LU team to make the run we all thought they could at the beginning of the year?

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Yeah, I mean I sure hope so, right? Like you talked about the depth of scoring there. I think every time Estemacher scores, I feel like it's a big goal. Yeah, I feel like he's the guy likes to, you know, score that go-ahead goal or or have that big moment, and then obviously the rat coming coming to show up this weekend. Right. I just love it. I like that a lot. Uh or yeah, the rat, Mac Rat, whatever. Yeah, yeah. The rat. That's good. Um, but yeah, I think you know, his speed on the breakaway, right? Just great job protecting that puck and and obviously executing at that high level. I think a lot of things are coming in. But yeah, I think this weekend stood out to me Kaush, right? He's establishing himself as that guy, which we all know he is, right? So it's it's great that he's believing in that and that he's seeming to come into his game and and continuing to make those saves that he needs to make to make to give the guys a chance, right? Obviously, shutting out Adrian, that sends a message, uh, and then battling and coming two wins against a good team in Maryville. And then the real test is gonna be if he can win, if the he gets all four starts, if he can win four in a row, um, against a really, really tough Ohio team.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yeah, or even if he keeps them close or three, right? Like you can come out with a winning uh more wins, yeah, than being 500 or whatever. That that's gonna be a big indicator, right? I think also too with belief. Um you previewed it a little bit, which we'll get back to in a sec. But yeah, Kurt, you're a little bit more closer to this team. Uh talk about like a little bit, like yeah, the belief that we're probably that the locker room's probably now starting to get, because like you said, tough start to the semester, oh two and one, and then you've rattled off now three big ones versus top ten opponents.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

Yeah, there's uh there's been you know uh like any season highs and lows, right? Right, but your your consistent guys have always had this like uh belief of who we are, right? That it's always the talk of like, man, when we look around this locker room, like we have a ton of talent. Yes, and we have you know hard workers, we got skill players, we got everything to kind of put it together. So it's nice that it seems like we're finding that formula, finding that recipe, getting the right bounces to sort of like build that confidence. And when I, you know, just looking at stats from ACHA's websites, and then you know, throughout the whole year, I think we have a lot of right guys coming alive at the right times. Um, so someone to you know, it's tough for me to highlight somebody individually because then I have to go and face the whole team here in a few hours. But uh when we look at Aiden Carney, you could see it from game one, like the the drop passes, the slip passes, just like his ability to make plays, and now he's really starting to see that in the scoring column as of late as well. Like I think there's gonna be a lot of guys who are peaking at the right time as we're kind of heading into into this, and then even just like your your tried and true consistence, uh Finch always kind of getting on the board, and then someone who's been absolutely going at it since May, like Debrito, just always finding great ways to make great plays for us. Uh that's huge. You know, your guys that have been there, your guys that are building towards it. I I love it. Or we're just we're in a good spot.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

We're in a really good spot, I think. Yeah, I love to hear and great time to be a fan of this team. And now, uh, like you talked about the confidence building, they're gonna need that to keep going over as they head to Bird Arena to take on a big rival. Uh last year, probably not uh with you bringing over a lot of different new players, didn't understand the rivalry as much as uh the previous group, but yeah, I think it's uh woe and swing. Like uh these are two teams that have a passion not only for playing each other, but also wanting to get on the other one's skin. Uh they take on um Ohio, currently number two in the country, uh, 25 and 5 on the season. Crazy part about them, they are 20 and oh in Bird Arena. Crazy. So this is a big thing. The biggest caveat though for Liberty, three and one in the last two seasons in Bird Arena. So they have found the combination to get it going when they are there. And I think for for you could argue about these two teams, really, everyone talks about Ohio, the skill they have. You could argue Liberty, though, talent and skill-wise, it's just up there. It's just we want to see them be consistent, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Yeah, I mean, Ohio is a great team, and they've been like that for a while, and like you said, they have that top-end talent, right? So I think that's the one thing that Maryville's been missing or have has missed. Um, they like we talked about earlier, maybe off the pod, like they Maryville had a lot of chances, and it could have been maybe the lack of top-end talent that they maybe didn't execute consistently uh in that game. But um, yeah, I think Ohio does have that. Like the Niagara's, Ohio's, and I'm just gonna assume the Rebels have it. That's right. Um obviously our our Liberty Flames definitely have it. Um so yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be a really great matchup, and I think that's gonna go on the Hockey House podcast as one of the games to watch, right? And it's gonna they're gonna play four in a row because you're gonna have to make adjustments. So who's gonna make those micro adjustments throughout those four games in a row? You're really gonna find out whose details are a little bit more dialed. Because I'm pretty sure if you match them up, goaltending, yeah, I'd say Liberty might have the edge. You know, defensively, maybe even forwards, okay. Maybe they're even. They'll say whose power play is gonna be buzzing, whose penalty kills. So it's gonna be us big special teams, and I think details are really gonna dictate these next four. Yeah, it'll be kind of just a all right.

SPEAKER_04 11:21

We we know the certain players, uh, Reeve, Thompson, Aldridge, uh, all with uh a ton of points and goals on the year there for the Bobcats. All right, we start to shut them down, and hopefully that just keeps kind of like building confidence because there's always gonna be that player or that line for teams that you always have to worry about or be thinking about the deeper you go into tournaments. And so to have four games, four shots at um you know, talent like that, like let's go, let's rock and roll. And then yeah, to Forth's point of uh hopefully, uh, because I believe it, we just we have a lot of depth of talent. Yeah. And so uh hopefully the the guys keep kind of building on that and we continue to see it. And then even just defensively to kind of comment on that, I think we've taken huge strides moving forward, right? Right. So we've uh talked about goaltending and how as of late kind of seems to be coming on. Well, the goalie can only be as good or so good as the forwards and the D kind of playing in front of them. So a big shout out to all of our defensemen. Like, I I think we've gotten some you know solid lines together, some solid uh play together, but we got to continue that. Especially what I kind of want to see this weekend is how uh how well do we do limiting second chances and getting it out, right? Like how quickly, how effectively can we clear the D zone? Because you have to do that in you know the months coming up here.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah, you have to do that. I was gonna say, yeah, what do you want to see uh this weekend from both of y'all? Like keys to success, you could say.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Well, I'm interested because based off what uh Coach Kerr was talking about, I was I'm interested to see what minutes they're gonna give other defensemen now that Jake Paul's out for the first game. Obviously, with his Nick Paul. Yeah, um, so I'm I'll be interested to see what Coach Hughes does with those minutes because obviously Nick Pomolo is a big guy about the back end. Um, and he's uh he's a good puck mover, and obviously he's tops um as far as assists go um and a playmaker. But yeah, yeah, I honestly think Liberty just has to continue with their identity. Who are we? What are we trying to do? And we need to dictate the pace against this Ohio team and just kind of stick with that uh and see if that works. And again, if if something they have to tweak, just being able to make micro adjustments in-game, yeah, you can kind of go from there.

SPEAKER_04 13:41

Yeah. I I also don't mind uh seeing like where's our resolve at in these big close tight games. I am so overjoyed by being able to come back um like we did in game two. That's huge, right? Just confidence for the team, and then uh just that that period of time where uh there's there's got to be something special. And Coach Ford, touch on this a bit more here of like what needs to happen on the bench, what's the communication need to be for a team to come back and win? Kind of you know, like with an exclamation mark at the end there. You've been in situations like that where the team has come back. Uh what could have been going on on the bench there that we want to continue to see moving forward?

SPEAKER_03 14:25

Well, I think it's belief and communication within the coaches, but also like the leaders on the team just have to be that calm presence and just encouraging guys, like, hey, we're as good as them, we're better, they're like we're dictating the pace, and we can come back, right? We talked about Shelby Bradford a lot, yeah, maybe off the podcast. And we were down at Adrian at one point late in the season, and they're we had a really good program there, and we were down three to one with going into third, and I think she kind of made a joke to the locker room, like, oh, I smell a comeback. And like some of the freshman girls were like, Oh, okay, like these girls are confident, like we've been there before. And I think uh at the at with the guys' team, like they know how to win. Yeah, like you know, they like they're a talented group, these guys understand the game, uh, and they're able to come back. So I think just having that confidence in yourself within that locker room, I I think uh they've done a good job and it speaks volumes on the leadership on the team. Yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

All right, appreciate that. Oh, yeah, can't wait to see it. Obviously, uh, like you guys cued is probably gonna be one of the games of the week uh this upcoming week, or really the next back-to-back week. Yeah. Uh Ohio should still be the number two team after they thump Kenesius and Liberty. We should see them potentially move up one, if not two spots after taking out Maryville. Uh so it'll be very exciting. Both games are happening this weekend at Bird Arena, uh, if I'm not mistaken, Friday at 7 p.m. and then Saturday at 5 p.m.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

There we go.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Well, we talked about how it was thriller on the road. Uh so it was good time to be a flame, bad time to be a saint, because the league flame also took on Maryville, and they won two big thrillers. Game one, down two nothing, uh, and they score ended up coming back three to two. All goals were scored in the third period, and then in game two, back and forth action between the two teams, and then Liberty somehow found a way to pull it out with seven seconds left in overtime to win four to three. And also, it was a big game for both these two teams. Obviously, PK stayed strong. That's the storyline. But the power play, something we have been consistently seeing. Cool. Yeah, exactly. 0 for 5, surprising, not too often there, but Liberty's depth did show out six different goal scores on the seven goals. So you gotta still be happy with the win because obviously tough place to play on the road, especially events against a very talented Maryville women's team.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

Yeah, I mean, whenever they play each other, I think that's like a circle it on the calendar moment. Yeah, right? It's a classic. Um, obviously, going to St. Louis for the 27th time this season, Liberty's used to that trip. So I think even anytime they play in St. Louis, it's kind of like almost a home weekend. Yep, yeah, right? They have a routine, they they know where the hotels are staying. It's a familiar place. Um, so I think the girls were obviously ready to go. And being down 2-0 to a really talented Maryville team, and even their second leading goal scorer was out of the lineup. I think I think that's again, Liberty still is the juggernaut. They're still the best team, and they continue at weekend in and weekend out proving that. Um and I think the I mean, obviously Liberty is hard to hold off, but I think there was a bit of a coaching error there at the end of the first game on the part of Maryville to let Liberty back in this game. And I would really like to go back in time and see if if that time out was not called by Maryville to see if you know Maryville forces Liberty's hand to call that timeout and make them panic. Um so it's just interesting, like little coaching details like that, and it's just like where where I can see, because again, I've coached with Coach Lowe's and and learned a lot from him over the years of like this is the moment you don't call a timeout, right? And so, like, and just having other coaches do those things and just watching the dynamic versus a program that's a continually proven championship program compared to a team that's doing everything to get there. Um, so the for me watching that on online, I can kind of see that. But Keith, stopping that penalty shot in the second game, like what are these? What is Maryville gotta do? Like I think like they go back there, they shake their like they scratch their head like, can we ever beat this team? Yeah, you know, going back to last year at Nationals, they're up one-nothing. You know, Oaks ties it back up on the power play, and then in double OT, Zasha, just the absolute heartbreaker that she is. Yeah, um, but yeah, I mean, I maybe I don't know, maybe he should just throw some systems in a bingo pit, pull it out. All right, this is doing two, one, two, four check. Okay, D zone, seg man, great, we're doing this. So, anyways, I'm rant I'm ranting, but it's super exciting weekend, love to see it. Uh, and and they're just rolling. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 19:04

Couple things I wanted to highlight. Uh in pure agreement, too. And another thing, yeah. Especially we we now know how to instruct the bus drivers to make the left-hand turn into Starbucks there because it's in a plaza, it's a little tough. Yeah, and there's uh there's some trees, so you got to get in and out uh gracefully there. And the St. Louis Bread Company, lots of parking over there in the uh Chesterfield row uh uh of businesses. But I I think I wanted to say this last week and kind of forgot of moving forward with the ladies, we want to see more uh regulation time goals or just uh five-on-five goals. We know that obviously this weekend wasn't the case, but like power play is is always good for something uh at big moments and big games, and we're uh able to really make teams pay. So the fact that we were able to come back and we were able to win games, not relying on special teams or you know, having a great uh penalty kill to keep us in the game, that's huge. And then just the confidence uh that kind of builds from being able to come back, uh send it into overtime and uh to win in regulation and everything is is awesome. And then you gotta give like uh a huge special shout out to Sammy Peebles for the blast in the game winner, right? Like seven seconds left. It is unbelievable. Like, oh I guess I might as well just shoot this thing.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

Yeah, it's like I was watching and it's like that's that sucks. It's a tie. Yeah, people bam!

SPEAKER_04 20:32

Yeah, it's awesome. Like she's she has such a such a hard shot, right? You don't always get to see it from uh you know in the stands or on film and in games. Uh some people kind of just get limited to display the real skills that they have. But I remember maybe it was like last year or two years ago. Like, I think you're gonna score a lot of goals this year. It's like, no, probably not, but the big goals in the big games, she's she's scoring them this year. It's awesome. Yeah, huge blast. Love to see it.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Yeah, she had two really big goals here last year at home against Minot. I thought it was Maryville, but it it's my knot. And I think they won.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

She had like a midnight game goal too. I thought so. Like an OT Maddie or that was Maddie.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Yeah, she had like a but she had a big goal. OT winner against Minot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

And she had two goals that game, maybe. But yeah, like just big moment, yeah, big moment Sammy right there. Makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 21:24

She's very, very chill. Yeah, not very up or down, just same thing every day. So yeah, the blood won't get boiling or the hands won't start shaking.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Just yeah, another day in the office. I love it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Sami Peebles led all scores, one goal and two apples. Ellis with two goals on the weekend as well. Battles, two assists, Bochamp and Penham Shan with a goal apiece. And then yeah, I can't talk enough about Alex Keith 20 for 22 in game one, but then the big game, 28 for 31 in game two, uh, especially stopping that penalty shot from a 30 plus goal score in Hayley Beck. So that's huge. For Liberty. Now they turn their attention moving forward to uh Adrian team, a bit of a rival on senior weekend. Obviously, always a tough battle when these two teams meet, no matter where they are on the season. And so this should be an exciting matchup. LU won uh back in October versus this team, 4-0 and 3-1. Adrian comes off of just one game versus Michigan where they won 3-1. So it should be interesting and as LU looks to now head into the postseason with not only a big sweep for senior weekend, but then head into the postseason as number one.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Yeah, obviously we always love an Adrian versus Liberty matchup. I think Liberty's got the edge this year. Uh they're playing better hockey than Adrian is realistically, if you look at the stat lines uh and the team records, but um not to say that Adrian doesn't ever give us um a run for the money, right? So like you know, Liberty beats Michigan 9-0 in 11-1, let's say, and then, you know, Adrian beats them 3-1. Do the math on that. But that this is sports, right? And so Adrian is doesn't really care if they beat Michigan, they care if they beat Liberty, yeah, right. Right? They don't want to come all the way to Lynchburg, Virginia and get waxed. So I I expect it to be really tough, um, high-paced, fast hockey and and really nice to watch. So if you're in the local area, come down and and watch and support the Lady Flames, and I think it's gonna be a really exciting weekend. And it's always nice senior weekend to honor those girls that have put the work in um over these four, three, four years, depending on their situation. But it's nice to have families here. Um, and I I think uh Coach Lowe's does a good job with you know making them all feel welcome and appreciating them trusting their daughters with him over these four years, right?

SPEAKER_04 23:44

Yeah, it's a good point, too forth of uh no matter what, anytime a team comes to the LIC, it's always a big game. And it's always kind of just been that like, hey, where are we at in the year when we get to play Adrian? Um so obviously we do that kind of home and away fall and spring uh series with them or away and home. Um, but it's always a good kind of like where are we at as we head into conference uh in you know uh another couple weeks here. And for for the Flames, like it's really kind of some some load management they'll have to go where you know this past weekend they were in St. Louis, get back, you have two home games, but then uh conference will start on Thursday, the 19th of February, and they'll they'll they'll be flying out to Nebraska. So yeah, this time next week they could be you know Nebraska bound um heading out there for conference. So yeah, just it'll be interesting load management-wise, if we see some different things this weekend of just preserving bodies and all that, or just keep the foot on the throttle day.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Uh probably as the game progresses, depending on what the lead is, like, you'll start seeing yeah, Coach Lowe's, I think, pull back the reins on some of some of the top end players. Um, but yeah, it'll be interesting to see. I didn't realize that the conference tournament started so soon. Yeah, but they're gonna be able to do that. It'll probably have a by day one, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

I'd imagine if it continues on. Yeah, but you're right. I thought it was that following weekend. I know women's two is is that following the weekend, but yeah. And you yeah, you're right. Like this weekend, it's you talk about load management, and I don't want to maybe you feel free to cut this, but I don't want to get into it. But like this is a gate, this is a weekend you almost want to give Keith a break. Like, I know Keith is an athlete, she wants to play, and it's her senior weekend. She's obviously gonna play. Yeah. But it's like if you do the math there, it's like, yeah, these this is one to get Brooklyn Adams some looks and Emma McDonald uh each a look. Uh, and again, to continue to grow that next generation of goaltending talent against a tough team to play against in Adrian.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Um, but yeah, I mean it's gonna be a great weekend. We'll be excited weekends. LU hosts the Bulldogs uh Friday at 7 30 and Saturday at 1 p.m. Uh and we've talked about a lot of uh flames upsetting top teams. Uh there was a battle of top teams as well this weekend. That's right. Back in in the southeast. The number one, Liberty, took on the number two, Navy. LU found a way to come out with two tough battle wins, 4-3 and 3-1 on senior weekend. So big shout out to Coach Ford and Rena and their ladies. And uh yeah, just getting it done, really uh putting your stamp on, yeah, we're the number one team in the South.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

Yeah, finally uh the girls got to play. Yeah, finally got to ladies. We almost didn't believe it. And like I woke up Saturday, it was like, I wonder if Navy's coming or if I can get a text and say they're canceled. No, nothing against Navy, but just been all the weather in the history of uh the last couple weekends. But no, I thought the girls did a great job um coming in and playing a really tough Navy team the first weekend back, eight weeks later, since our last game before Christmas. Yeah, yeah. So it's been a long time coming, and the girls were kind of itching to get going. But I thought the girls played well. Uh in the first period, we were up 3-0, and it didn't feel like a 3-0 period for us, right? I I thought we didn't do a lot of little things well, but I I I later watched film and it wasn't as bad as it felt. You know, sometimes as a coach, it feels worse than it is, and and you can kind of look on film like Navy did a really great job taking away valuable time and space throughout the ice, and so it made it tough on on our girls. And I thought they were very resilient, and even though Navy came back um and made it tough for us in that first game, I thought they showed a lot of poise to continue to keep that lead, and and obviously we got the job done, and then second day I thought we were better everywhere, uh, minus the power play. I don't want to talk about power play. We gave up shorthand. It's a mess, and that's on me, right? I'm the I'm running power play, so trying to make sure that the girls are all dialed. I'll take 49% of the blame. Obviously, they're out there, so they own 51% of it. Oh, I like that. That's good coaching, right? So uh I I think the girls did a great job this weekend, and obviously we had depths of scoring um throughout the lineup. I um Ari Pastor. Uh she had three points this weekend. Uh Pat, you can kind of divulge more of that, but Briley Bettle, she's somebody that you know I wouldn't necessarily expect, but I thought she had three points this weekend. Yep. Um, so it's really nice to see, and then we got good goaltending um through three of our four goaltenders that that were in the game.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Yeah, and uh like you said, yeah, uh and pastor led the all scores for LU with three apples, so that's huge, getting uh good three assists from those three ladies that, like you said, normally don't fill up the score column. Um Will Hummy had two goals, Walhoff and Williams also a goal and assist a piece. Uh, and then we saw a goal from Rogers, Natter, and Donovan, so that's big as well. Uh Mishack and Klein also with one apple. And like you said, all three goaltenders got some time this weekend on senior weekend, which is huge because all three of them are seniors. Okay. Oh uh pretty uh tough for you for next year, but which we'll get into later. Yeah. Uh later, prod. But yeah, obviously uh great series. And now you guys look to take on the defending DVC HC champs. Finally, gonna play Villanova. Yeah. Yeah. Uh they're coming off of a tough series for themselves, uh, losing to Northeastern 6-0 and 4-2. So obviously, very tough game for them. Um, and they're hoping not to go 0-4 now uh as they travel down here to Lynchburg in a reschedule game. And it's gonna be the game of uh what a lot of people have been waiting to see. Top two goalscorers in the country, Core Williams currently still first in the nation in goals, six in points, and then Cameron Brown, who's tied for seventh in goals in the country.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Yeah, no, we're we're very excited to play Villanova, right? Navy, they're obviously a really tough uh program in our in our league, but yeah, Villanova is the one that we we point out, right? We've got that battle. We obviously lost to them in the two biggest games of the season last year in conference final and also in our pool play at Nationals. Uh they got the better of us by a goal in each one of those. Um and yeah, and it all kind of circles around Cameron Brown, the girl, she's a stud, and she's a top player in the league, and she's very dynamic. She'll she'll make you pay. If you lose her on the ice, she finds that quiet ice and she's she can kind of score from anywhere, whether it's off the rush or out of the corner. Uh, she's a really special player. Um, she's a special player for them. Um, but yeah, we're just really excited to get it going. It's thankfully, they like you said, they're coming off a tough weekend, and they also play Rowan Friday before they travel to us. So maybe they, you know, a little bit less. So that gives us, I think, a little bit of a um a preparation or let's say a rest advantage there. So but they'll be they'll come ready. They want they want to beat us, they want to prove that they are the best in this uh conference, but obviously that's our goal not to let them.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Yeah, absolutely. And obviously a lot of depth on this team, so it'd be good to see you talk about top end goal talent. Uh Liberty, no stranger, top end talent, like I just said, with uh your one of your assistant cabinets leading the nation in goal scoring. But yeah, Chris Kerr, obviously give your thoughts on what you're hoping to see this weekend from these two two ladies.

SPEAKER_04 31:03

Well, for just to kind of quickly go back and comment on to be able to face the second ranked team in your conference, uh in your region, excuse me, in the southeast, and to come away with wins having not played many games. Huge. And then uh I don't know if the team has a nickname for uh Hodson there, but we uh we're talking in the weight room, and she brought up the point too of like we haven't played many games against a team that they're at the naval academy, they're probably the most conditioned team of PT every day, yeah, in the league, right? Uh just by you know the the circumstance of being at the naval academy going through PT and all the physical training, plus uh being a hockey player. So uh there should be tons of confidence going forward uh with that. But yeah, I would say when you have uh you know two juggernauts there in the southeast plus two juggernauts on each team, the scoring column there, uh it's going to be a all eyes on them. So then big focus uh not having had on the other girls, right? So I would love to see like this past weekend um some different names start to get in the scoring column there. Awesome to see uh Pimsiri uh Will Helmy being able to pot in two, and that's what you're gonna need moving forward, right? Everyone's gonna know, all right, this person, this person, so you just need everybody else to step up, and that's where uh practice comes into play, right? Like you have to have to give every single effort and every drill, every whatever you're doing on the ice there, because at some point in some game, we're gonna need everybody, um, not just this one or two people because they're gonna be marked up and shut down, but who could have a little bit more depth and consistency. And from this past weekend, like, man, we saw it in close, hard fought games, lots of girls getting uh on the stat sheet there. That's what you need to win. Yeah, I'm excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, especially versus these top end teams. I know Villanova's currently fourth in the South, which I feel like that's a little clerical error, but well, they did get bumped this last ranking. Yeah, they swapped with Delaware. Okay, so yeah, so it should be in a very exciting matchup as uh yeah, Nova always knows how to play, and they do a great job, also good battle rivalry, you could say, between the two teams over the last few stuff. Yeah, for sure as well. So yeah, it'll be very exciting. It's two games, uh, Saturday at 8.30, and then Sunday at 12.30. So it should be very exciting, like we were just saying. But Men's D2, uh, unfortunately for them, they're riding a big high, a five-game win streak, and came to an end versus the Bonnies, who really showcased a bit of a surprise team, if uh, so to speak, first time playing the Bonnies, but first time actually seeing them play too. Uh team that had a lot of speed and did a good job of stretching nice. They were able to take both games 4-2 and 6-2 and were able to just capitalize on the power play. That was the biggest factor, I think, for them uh throughout the weekend. So a bit of a setback for Liberty, but a lot of tape and learning experience, I think, for this young group.

SPEAKER_03 34:05

Yeah, I mean, uh, they got outscored five-nothing in the third periods, you know, amongst those two games. So, like, yeah, if we you you know play 40 minutes, like we're right in this thing, right? So just being able to continue to the that type of play for the entire 60 minutes, I think, again, just working on those little things are gonna uh come in handy. But like you said, special teams, right? Those top teams, they've got talent, they move the puck so well. Yeah, uh, and just being able to find a way to to get better sticks in lanes and just and just try to hang on a little bit harder um on those PKs and obviously stay the heck out of the box. Yep. So um, yeah, I think again, this is just a little a blip on their journey, right? I don't know if they'll move too much up or down, right? Because you lose to a top three in a in a good conference, and I'm sorry, in a good region. Uh I think you're fine. They just need to keep like continue to keep moving up the the rankings five, six, seven, eight in there, and then you just have to do your thing at regionals. And I think they understand where they're at right now, right? They can they've got Rowan next week, which might be really good because they might face them based on uh rankings at regionals right awesome uh in that first matchup, maybe. But um, yeah, I think no panic, just like, hey, we did a good we did good here and here, but this sucked, and we need to work on this, right? So just just trying to make it as objective as possible uh and and just trying to dial it in a little.

SPEAKER_04 35:30

Yeah. I think uh a good conversation could happen amongst just the players themselves, where all right, hey, if we stay out of the box a little bit or focus a little bit here, let's just say we only gave up two power play goals, right? That's kind of a different game, but um yeah, there just needs to be some sort of conversation at some point where hey, through 40, we're a really good team. Yeah, we have seen these last 20 minutes uh throughout the whole year kind of not really going our way. We're not all new, we're we're an established team together now here in the second semester. So uh you need the leadership to have that conversation of like we need to keep our heads uh and not sort of unravel here in the third. And and again, that comes from uh just hard fought practices where you can look up and down the bench and know, like, I know I worked my butt off this weekend, I know he did, uh, because I was pushing him and he was pushing me. And then yeah, we gotta put it together in these big games, and again, uh with the profs coming into town, great opportunity for that, right? Kind of get that mojo and momentum kind of rebuilding. We know no matter what, everyone will go to regionals this year. So who could be the most uh learned uh and you know confident heading into that? That's what we need to kind of focus on, in my opinion. Just have that conversation. Hey, no matter what, we're we're gonna be a third period team.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah, and part of that is the youth, right? Like obviously not they have any experience for it, but as you said, now it's time to start dialing it up uh uh and figuring things out, and you got one more test before regionals because it's more than likely Liberty is regional bound, which is exciting. Yes, uh, and they have a chance to potentially play the profs, yeah, in the first game. So Rowan, 21-5-2 on the season, coming off of uh being the regular season champs of the ACCHL Premier League uh conference, I should say, but they were upset in the semifinals, uh, if I'm not mistaken, they lost uh to Maryland 4-3, so tight game for them. So they're coming in with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, too, especially last year. Played uh Liberty um after losing the first game uh during conference, and they were played lost 4-1. So this is two teams that used to play each other quite regularly, not as much now, and uh um it should be an exciting matchup for both teams trying to build that momentum going into the regional tournament because for both teams, really, they're trying to figure something out moving into yeah, like we said, the southeast regional tournament.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

Yeah, I mean, obviously the yellow and brown, uh, they're a team that we're used to playing, right? Historically, um I think if this weekend will be a great test to see where Liberty's at, yeah, as far as like the depth of the region, right? Obviously, you play a couple teams in a row from the Northeast, like they're good, high skilled um region over there. I think these are great, especially if you play them first round, right? Like this is the most familiar team that you could have played. Um, so I think Liberty should be confident going in. I think Liberty comes away with two wins this um this weekend, and they and they finish the season at 15 and 13.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

There we go.

SPEAKER_04 38:41

Oh boy, and then we're we're talking regionals, we have a lot of different teams. So for those who may not know or kind of newer to the ACHA for men's division two, they used to have auto bids, top two in the region, auto bid to nationals. This year it went away. So we're gonna have four regional tournaments and top four teams from that advance. Yep, right? So there's no like winner of the region, it's just you play games until we find the top four weeks.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

And then you go on. Yeah, it's kind of interesting too. They don't do like play final tournaments. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't win a medal? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But at the same time. Yeah, Coca-Cola? Yeah. So yeah, but should be exciting nonetheless. Uh uh, yeah, like a big chance for Liberty to uh tighten things up. Um and uh yeah, hopefully build some momentum heading into the regional tournament after this weekend. So again, exciting games to see.

SPEAKER_04 39:35

I wonder if uh Annie Corey will be attending regionals. It's in Ohio, we all know. Big Ohio fan. Big Ohio fan as well the state, not the big fan of Ohio.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Annie Corey currently working at the Olympics right now. Oh, some big things. Uh she's not fully in Italy, just so everyone's aware she is currently in the state. Spade. In Spade. Oh, sorry. Yes, Spain. My bad. Yeah, don't worry. Yep. Uh public school education. Um, but uh yeah, but Liberty now takes on the props. Yeah, Friday at 4.30, and then Saturday also at 4.30 for their senior weekend as well. A lot of senior weekends happening up here. Uh, but now we move forward. Now men's division three, big showing for them. Um as they look to wrap up, hopefully the regular season. We'll have three more games, two on the road, and then one at home. But yeah, had a big weekend versus Virginia Tech. Uh, another ACCHL foe. And yeah, kind of did what they've done all year. Domination. 8-2 and 11-1. 11 different goal scores on the 19 goals. Uh, a lot of career nights for some of these players or career weekends, I should say. So yeah, good to see men's division three trying to keep rolling, and I think it all stands back when you beat the number one team in ACHA Division III, yeah, and you're the number one team in AAU, that builds you a lot of confidence moving forward, and we've seen that.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Yeah, I mean, men's D three, they're they're a juggernaut at this point. Uh, and I'm for me.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

It's just a pause. Like, did we ever think we'd say that? Yeah, I think you know what I mean. Like, I mean, maybe credit to the boys and Coach Wagner. Yeah, yeah. Huge credit to them.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Yeah, no, they're they're doing great. And like, even just Coach Wagner, I was, you know, they were what they were here waiting to get to their game in between our our periods this weekend, and I was like, ah, you know, we coaches we complain to each other, but like, come on, these people aren't, you know, and he kind of said, like, yeah, yesterday we were down one nothing. So it's like, even though the standard like they won eight, too, and the standard's still really high. Yeah, right. So uh love to see it, but yeah, I mean, at this point, like I just want to see what they're gonna do at Nationals. Yeah. Uh agree. So I'm I'm I'm really excited. I would again, I don't want to jinx anything, but I would I would love to see for that program and and Coach Wegs, Coach Bikey, uh, and those guys to come back and earn themselves a ring. But again, let's not get ahead of ourselves. They still have a lot of work to do because obviously they're gonna face some really good teams here in the near future, but I really like where their program's at. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 42:03

Yeah, um unfortunately that just you know is what it is. We can look up the stats, uh, Coastal Carolina, not as powerhouse as they have been. Um, and I would have enjoyed a few closer games if we look at the stat sheet. Just, you know, they've been pumping teams. Uh, so it's always good to have a little uh something. Uh no, if we were whatever going to talk about it, uh Wake Forest will be rescheduled in February uh 21st. Yep, the 21st. So hopefully that's a you know hard fought battle for them as they will obviously they have some regular season hockey going on, but as we continue to move forward towards their conference tournament at the end of February. But the team's rolling. Uh it's like I'm reading through the stat sheet, I don't know all their last names, so I'm like, who's that guy? Who's that guy? And like it's very exciting to see of just a lot of guys that could put the puck in the net, and and you need that, right? You can't just be one line heavy, um, which oftentimes teams at that D3 level are just sort of is what it is. Got a lot of guys that can make you pay. And um, to to the credit of the coaches and the players, like I've I've seen it fourth, you've seen it of here's what championship practices and uh workouts look like, and like that's happening. Whether or not that'll always translate to the big moments in the big games is that's up to the players, but like all the hard work is there. They're right, yeah, they're playing unbelievably to our point of beating the ACHA D3 uh number one. Like we're rolling right now. This is very exciting. I'm expecting domination this weekend and continued hard work.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

Well, yeah, exciting times. And now, yeah, hoping to see uh men's division three roll past Coastal Carolina, and yeah, uh obviously they are not having the season that they are used to having currently two and four, and recently coming off of big losses to Alabama, six four and five to two. Uh Liberty went three and over coastal last year. Beating the 1-0 here and a shootout and then 6-1 and then 3-1 in the ACCHL championship. So Liberty, hoping to continue that momentum versus uh a bit of a rival and a team that really kind of snake bit Liberty for a long time, especially in the conference championships.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

Yeah, obviously they're over that hump uh against Coastal Carolina, it seems like. Uh so yeah, I would like to see them continue, and I I don't imagine anybody's really stopping this train anytime soon. I think everybody's kind of like, uh oh, this Liberty team's pretty darn good. Um so I think a lot of teams are just trying to maybe take advantage of opportunities. Maybe if they get it special teams get hot, but I honestly think it should be a three to four, even more goal split this weekend. Um but yeah, I think this team is just really good, really deep. Uh they got good goaltending, good coaching, uh, and they seem to do a lot of things well, and they have the high standard, so that's a really tough team to play against.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Yeah, it really is. Obviously, like you just said, not only a high standard, but also extremely talented group uh for this upcoming season. So it'll be exciting when they take on Coastal for this upcoming weekend and a lot of exciting hockey uh this weekend with uh multiple teams at home and two teams on the road uh in men's division three and men's division one, while women's D1, men's D2 have their showing weekends and then the rematch for uh or rescheduling, so to speak, for your team fourth with uh Lady Flame. So it should be very exciting. But uh that's all we got for this edition of Rock the Ring. Thanks for tuning in, and yeah, we'll see you next time.