The Liberty University Flames are back-to-back ACHA Women’s Division I National Champions after defeating Lindenwood-Belleville University 5-2 Sunday afternoon at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. The Flames had five different goal scorers with Lauren McDonald leading the team in scoring, tallying two points (1g+1a) to help Liberty clinch its third title in last five years.

In their fourth Finals trip in the last five years, Liberty jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. Danica Polson scored the game’s first goal at 5:33 for Liberty before Clarissa Tipping found the back of the net just before the 10-minute mark.

Down 3-0 just 35 seconds into the second on an unassisted goal by McDonald, Lindenwood-Belleville came within one after scoring a pair of goals--just 66 seconds apart--midway into the period.  Lynx Ashley Dietmeier broke Liberty netminder Nadia Rupoli’s shutout bid at 10:27 in the period and Dakota McAlpine following at 11:33 with an unassisted goal.

Vanessa Demerchant helped Liberty regain a two-goal lead early in the final frame before Deena Birney added an unassisted empty-net goal with just 12 seconds remaining to further assure the Flames’ championship.

[ Box Score ]