Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Flames' offense heats up, starts spring break with rout of GW
3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Snow is in the forecast for Liberty University's men's lacrosse team's spring break stay in Washington, D.C., this week, but the Flames didn't let the cold weather affect them in Monday's SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) Northwest Region game against George Washington at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex, where they torched the Colonials (2-5) by a score of 25-4.
"We were definitely in control," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "Realistically, after the first quarter, the guys did a good job of being consistent and not giving GW any opportunities to get a foothold or any traction. The guys had a lot of hustle and put forth a good effort, which was nice to see. It was definitely a confidence booster for us and hopefully we can use it as motivation."
Sophomore attack Sam Gregory contributed a 10-point game for the 23rd-ranked Flames (3-1, 2-0 Northwest Region), scoring four goals and distributing six assists while freshman attack Caleb Britton netted six goals with three assists, and senior Nick Lombardozzi scored five goals.
Liberty also got three goals from freshman midfielder Erik Arvesen, two from freshman attack Eli Britton, and one goal and one assist from freshman midfielders Carter Elliott and Derrick Esh. Freshman attack Noah Rude, freshman defenseman Charlie Shier, and sophomore midfielder Chase Wright scored single goals while sophomore midfielder Sam King distributed two assists and senior midfielder Brett Wood added one.
Junior midfielder Jacob Campbell won seven out of nine faceoffs for the Flames before being relieved by freshman faceoff specialist James Fowler, who won 12 out of 14.
"We got a lot of faceoff wins and ground ball pickups, including six from Caleb Britton, which was huge to see from an attackman," McQuillan said. "We overwhelmingly controlled the game's time of possession and the biggest thing was our consistency on faceoffs."
Defensively, freshman Grayson Rhyne started at long-stick midfielder, with sophomore Win McKeever dropping back to the closed defense position.
"We made that switch on defense because of the type of opportunities Grayson gives us to score on transition," McQuillan said. "He was able to create four or five turnovers with good stick check and to get a loose ball that we were able to come up with and start the fast break."
In goal, sophomore Braydon Harriman made five saves and allowed two goals in the first half before freshman Ryan Reynolds had two saves and allowed two goals in the second half.
The Flames expect a much stiffer test on Wednesday, that is if they can get their game in against Sonoma State (Calif.), at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va., located just outside of Washington, D.C. Between 6-12 inches of snow are forecast in that area on Tuesday, which could force a change in the time or location of Wednesday's 2 p.m. contest. There is a possibility that Liberty could end up hosting that game in Lynchburg, where snow accumulation is expected to be minimal.
Sonoma State (5-3) recently dropped out of the MCLA Top-25 Coaches Poll, but beat GWU 8-1 on Saturday and rallied to score three goals in the last minute to tie Sunday's game against New Hampshire before beating the Wildcats in overtime, 14-13.
"Hopefully, we can feed off of this win (against GWU) going into Wednesday's game against a good West Coast team that plays in a difficult (Western Collegiate) Lacrosse Conference," McQuillan said. "It will be a different style or brand of lacrosse (but) if we play with the same effort and speed that we did today, we'll have success."
Both teams will have to overcome the same weather conditions.
"It's definitely going to be a factor, but both teams will be dealing with the same elements," McQuillan said. "It'll make things a little more difficult, but it'll be an even playing field. Getting out to a good start early will be key. Sometimes, we have struggled getting out of the gate against good teams."
The Flames' only loss of the season was at 15th-ranked Michigan State, in a game played indoors, Feb. 27 in the Legacy Center in Brighton, Mich.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
