Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Men's lacrosse to scrimmage SVU and Roanoke in February
1/29/2021 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Since departing the SELC for the new Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC), which he founded over the summer, Liberty University men's lacrosse Head Coach Kyle McQuillan has revised the Flames' 2021 schedule four times, with the latest slate drafted this week.
Aside from the six other ALC teams — Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia — Liberty will have the opportunity to face three teams for the first time, starting with a scrimmage against NCAA Division III Roanoke College on Feb. 20 in Salem, Va. Originally, the Flames were set to scrimmage the University of Lynchburg's NCAA DIII squad for the first time on Feb. 13 at UL's Shellenberger Field, but now they will travel to Buena Vista, Va., to play Southern Virginia's DIII team instead. Previously, Liberty competed in the same MCLA SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) Division II as the Knights.
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The Flames, who started last season at 6-0 and ranked fourth in the MCLA Division I coaches poll before having the rest of their schedule and the SELC Tournament and MCLA National Championships canceled by COVID-19, will open their 2021 campaign with a first-ever matchup with Indiana University on March 5 at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. They will begin ALC play at home against ECU on March 13 before traveling to Morgantown, W.Va., to play the Mountaineers on April 9 and a first-ever meeting with Western Michigan on April 10.
"This is our best plan to put our best foot forward in terms of devising a schedule and being able to compete this spring," McQuillan said. "We feel pretty good about all of those games, though they are still subject to change. All the schools left in the ALC (other than George Washington, which has suspended play this season) are very optimistic they will be able to move forward with the season."
The Flames also have a non-conference clash with SELC power Georgia Tech on April 3 at home, where they will conclude ALC play against former SELC Northwest Region rival Virginia Tech on April 24 before hosting the inaugural ALC Tournament from April 30-May 2.
"Our goal is to get some really good games against good competition at home, where we have a really good platform to stream games on ESPN+," McQuillan said. "We would love to see the ALC Tournament move around to different campuses in the conference or different neutral sites. But with our ability to put games on ESPN+, we want to take advantage of that and start our conference with a bang."
He anticipates the Flames will be able to come out of their Christmas Break slumber quickly and give the NCAA DIII Knights and Maroons excellent first tests in exhibition action.
"We have looked good in practice so far," McQuillan said, noting he held two-a-day practices plus weightroom sessions last week before the start of spring semester classes. "It's been cold and we've had got some snow on the field, but the guys have had pretty good attitudes all considering. Everybody's anxious to get some games under their belt and it is good we have (those scrimmages) to look forward to."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
