Liberty University Club Sports
University of Connecticut
Flames ride Huskies to third straight home rout, expect dogfight Sunday against Dukes
4/2/2022 10:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Since losing to No. 3 Clemson, 14-13 in overtime on March 11 at home, Liberty University's No. 4-ranked men's lacrosse team has won its past three games at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields by a combined 65-5 margin, including Saturday night's 22-2 triumph over Connecticut.
"That was definitely a little bit of a surprise that we were able to have the dominance that we did today," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "UConn has always been a team that has given us great games in the past. I really attribute it to the fact that we're starting to find our stride. In the last four games that we've had, although they've been lopsided, I've seen continued growth and continued progress and continued improvement in the things we've needed to focus on."
Four quick goals by graduate attack Carter Elliott sparked the Flames to a 5-0 lead in the first eight minutes of action. In between, a spectacular finish by senior attack Cooper Branham seconds after the third faceoff made it 3-0 just over three minutes into the contest.
Sophomore attack Keaton Mohs (five goals), who assisted Elliott's fourth score, netted the Flames' sixth before freshman middie Will Geary launched a shot from the top left side of the box under the crossbar, senior middie Thomas Pinel pocketed an uncontested shot into the top left corner of the cage, and senior attack Mark Rolewicz capped the first-quarter scoring with a shot from the middle off an assist from Elliott for a 9-0 advantage.
"We were definitely very effective in our shooting today in terms of giving the goalie some variety with shooting high and shooting low, but everything seemed to be on target early on," McQuillan said.
Ellliott picked up where he left off to start the second quarter, finishing a feed from with a one-timed shot from point-blank range to push Liberty's lead to 10-0.
After a nearly 10-minute scoring lapse, Geary scored from the right side of the box before graduate goalie Ryan Reynolds preserved the shutout on the other end and Mohs made it 12-0 with a fantastic move and finish from close range with 3:12 left in the first half.
"I was just trying to beat my guy and keep my head up and if nobody's going to come, get in front of the net and if someone comes, try to continue to work it around," Mohs said.
Branham then put the finishing touches on the first-half scoring with another point-blank finish off a feed from the top of the box.
Just 40 seconds into the second half, Liberty senior middie Ryan O'Connor picked up the scoring by ripping a shot into the upper netting to stretch the lead to 14-0 before freshman middie Evan Shock took a pass from Branham and scored to extend the advantage to 15-0.
UConn (2-4) finally ended the shutout with just over 10 minutes to go in the third before Mohs pushed the lead back to 15 with an uncontested running bounce shot on net before junior defender Levi Lowmaster saved an outlet at midfield and dished it to Geary, who set up Pinel for a rocket of a shot from the right side to make it 17-1. Mohs made it 18-1 before the end of the third quarter.
Huskies attack Anthony Caputo trimmed the deficit to 18-2 with a turnaround shot from the top of the box at the 12:00 mark. But Branham answered with a spin move and shot from the right side and Elliott extended it to 20-2 by rifling a shot from the right side and 21-2 with a spectacular seventh goal into the top left corner of the cage while falling down as he cut left to right across the box. Mohs capped the scoring with 1:00 remaining with a backhanded finish from right in front.
Liberty will travel to James Madison University (7-1) on Sunday for a 4:30 p.m. showdown that will determine the No. 1 seed out of the North Region going into the April 29-May 1 ALC Tournament at City Stadium in Lynchburg.
"I'm happy with the outcome today, but now we shift our focus to JMU," McQuillan said. "That's a big game being that it's for the No. 1 seed and it will be the first time we'll be playing James Madison. We need to do our best to show the fact that we're still the ALC champions and welcome them to the ALC."
The Dukes defeated UConn, 14-7, on Friday night in Harrisonburg.
"JMU's definitely going to be a dogfight," Mohs said. "They're a really good team. We've beaten up on a few teams here in the last few games, so it's not going to be that case (on Sunday). We've got to work hard. There's no more gimme games for the rest of the year. They're all going to be fights. We've got to defend (the ALC Tournament title, but) it's not going to be easy."
The Flames will return to the Liberty Lacrosse Fields next Friday night for their annual "Midnight Mayhem" matchup, against No. 1 BYU, in a rematch from last year's MCLA Invitational quarterfinal.
"We're excited to play everybody," Mohs said. "We preach gratitude all year long, so we're grateful to play games because last year we didn't get to play too many. It's been unreal, so fun."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video by Flames Central
