Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Flames fend off feisty Panthers, improve to 5-0 after midnight
4/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Saturday morning's Midnight Mayhem matchup against Davenport was a microcosm of Liberty University's men's lacrosse team's season, with highs, lows and several momentum swings.
"It's been a roller coaster season," Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said after a 16-14 triumph that puts the Flames (6-5) back above the .500 mark. "We've had, arguably, some of the best wins in program history. We went from beating Florida State, the No. 7 team in the country (last Friday night), to dropping a huge game against (No. 17) Connecticut in less than 48 hours (last Sunday afternoon), so we've been on mountaintops, we've been in valleys."
In the end, the 21st-ranked Flames won for the fifth straight time in midnight games, starting a new streak at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields (after UConn ended its 26-game run) by breaking open a tie contest with two goals in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
On senior night, senior attack Nick Lombardozzi (four goals) netted the game-winner off an assist from sophomore attack Sam Gregory (3G, 2A), who ran from out behind the Panthers' cage and set him up for a sidearm shot from the top of the right side of the box.
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| Liberty's players huddle during a break in the action. |
Forty-five seconds later, Gregory picked up a ground ball in a mad scramble near midfield after Davenport defender Nick Mulcahey lost possession as he tried to split Lombardozzi and Gregory on transition. Gregory dodged a furious Panthers' pursuit and fed an outlet pass to freshman midfielder Carter Elliott (1G, 3A), who found freshman attack Caleb Britton (3G, 3A) before freshman midfielder Erik Arvesen (2G, 2A) sealed the win by capitalizing on the three-on-one counterattack with a deft shot in the right crease.
"It was definitely a fun game and a good feeling to win," Gregory said. "We have a young team, but we've persevered through and we showed good heart by finishing them off."
"It was just hustle and heart," McQuillan added. "It came down to a few key ground balls where it was just scrappy play. The ball was on the ground and it was up for anybody and at the end of the day, I think our guys just wanted it a little bit more."
The Panthers (6-5) tied the game at 14-14 with back-to-back scores by junior Bryan Larocque, the MCLA's leading goal-scorer (43) and fellow attackman Jarred Riley in an eight-second span with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.
"They've just got some guys who can do some special things," McQuillan said. "Behind-the-back, underhand shots, they were dangerous from a lot of positions."
The Flames opened a 6-1 lead late in the first quarter on two goals by Gregory and Britton and one each by Lombardozzi and freshman midfielder Derrick Esh (3G, 1A) before allowing Davenport to cut the deficit to 6-4 with three unanswered goals in the final minute and a half.
Then in the second, Lombardozzi and Gregory stretched Liberty's lead to 8-4 before Arvesen launched a missile that deflected off the stick of goalie Danny Kransberger into the back of the net, Esh stole an outlet pass and ran in for an easy finish, and Britton scored off an assist from Gregory to give the Flames a seemingly commanding 11-5 advantage.
However, the Panthers went on the prowl again, ending the first half the way they did the first quarter, with three straight scores in the final 1:51 to pull within 11-8. They quickly cut the gap to 11-9 in the first minute of the second half before Esh put away an assist from Elliott, ending a seven-minute scoring drought for both teams. Elliott then rifled a shot from the left side into the top left netting to extend the Flames' edge to 13-9 at just under the five-minute mark.
For the third time, Davenport reeled off three consecutive scores to pull within 13-12 before Lombardozzi stopped the bleeding by completing his hat trick with a shot from out front — set up by senior Brett Wood after he picked up his team-high sixth ground ball — to make it 14-12 with 3:55 to go.
McQuillan was pleased with the play of all three of his seniors —Wood, Lombardozzi, and faceoff specialist Jacob Campbell, who won 14 of 30 faceoffs.
"Jacob won the faceoffs when we needed him to, in clutch situations right at the end," he said.
With 14 freshmen on the roster, including several regulars in the rotation, McQuillan said they showed maturity beyond their years.
"I thought the guys did, overall, a good job of keeping their wits about them," he said. "I know they came back and tied it up late, but we got the lead early and we never relinquished it."
He said there was little he could do to but hold on as the Flames went on the wild ride symbolic of their season.
"When it's late and it's back and forth and you get to a point where you feel like you've got a comfortable lead and you've got it in control and then they fight back and you make mistakes, it's tough," McQuillan said. "I feel like I do very little coaching and the majority of it is just emotions and getting guys to stay positive.
"I gave the game ball to the sidelines tonight, which I've never done before," he added. "Through it all, they were fantastic for the guys today and I think did a much better job than the coaching staff of staying positive and upbeat."
Britton remained the second-leading goal-scorer in the nation behind Larocque with 41 goals as a freshman.
"Statistically speaking, Caleb Britton had a fantastic game, but overall, it was a great team win," McQuillan said.
He hopes Liberty can ride the momentum from this win into next Saturday's 7 p.m. showdown at Virginia Tech, with the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) Northwest Region regular-season title and top seed for the following weekend's SELC Tournament near Atlanta on the line.
"We've been in a lot of these games this season and, unfortunately, we've been on the losing end of them, so it gives us some more confidence, gives us a little bit more motivation as we head into Virginia Tech and then the playoffs," McQuillan said. "These are the type of games that build character and it was fortunate we came out on the positive end of it, but it was a grind. Hopefully, we can get off this rollercoaster and keep it going in a positive direction."
A win over the 12th-ranked Hokies would be the Flames' first over a ranked opponent on the road since they moved up to the Division I level in 2014.
"Virginia Tech's probably our biggest rival and they're definitely one of the top teams in the SELC (so) that would definitely would be a good encouragement boost for us," Gregory said. "They're a solid team that doesn't make many mistakes. We know what we need to do."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
A dozen of the thousands of fans on hand for the fifth annual Midnight Mayhem get fired up.
