Autumn colors provide a beautiful backdrop for Saturday night's showdown between the Flames' and Hokies' men's lacrosse teams in a fall scrimmage at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. (Photos by Kendall Tidwell)
Men’s lacrosse shut out by Hokies in second half of 12-7 fall scrimmage setback
10/22/2023 2:38:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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Liberty only managed one goal after seizing a 6-3 lead on their closest ALC rivals midway through the second quarter.
Saturday night's fall scrimmage showdown with Virginia Tech at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields — a rematch of last season's ALC Tournament final won by the Hokies at Lynchburg's City Stadium — left a familiar feeling in the hearts and minds of players and coaches on Liberty University's men's lacrosse team.
The Flames scored five consecutive goals to open a 6-3 lead in the second quarter before allowing Virginia Tech to outscore them 9-1 the rest of the way, including 5-0 in the second half of a 12-7 defeat.
"It was a competitive first half," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "Going into halftime, I wasn't super happy with the level of play, but we were knotted up at 7, so we were definitely still in it."
"The second half was a disappointment," he added. "Credit to Virginia Tech for taking advantage, but tonight was more about our mistakes. We got completely away from who we are and our systems. We made so many mistakes and when you play good teams like Virginia Tech, those are going to cost you every time, and they were exposing us every time." Flames junior middie Peyton Doyle follows through on a shot against Virginia Tech.
After Will Geary scored the game's first goal, and Virginia Tech netted the next three, fellow junior midfielder Peyton Doyle cut the Flames' deficit to 3-2 with 8:03 to go in the first quarter before sophomore attack Luke Campbell received a pass from graduate attack Mark Rolewicz and tied the contest with an authoritative finish at the 7:19 mark.
"That was what our offense looks like when it's running the way it's supposed to," McQuillan said.
With 4:55 left, senior attack Braden Landry leaped high to catch a cross-field pass from sophomore middie Shane Supek and drove on net before putting away a shot from close range in the right crease.
Sophomore attack Luke Branham then set up Campbell on a fast break in the left side of the box for a low, underhanded finish as the Flames seized a 5-3 lead with 2:15 left. Geary gave the Flames a 6-3 advantage 45 seconds later by unleashing a running shot from the left side of the box that ripped into the upper netting.
Flames senior goalie Eric Warnstrom made a few quality saves in the first quarter that preserved the three-goal lead and came off the field fired up after a clear by junior long-stick defender Conor Guiltinan.
"Ric played really well and was a big reason why we were able to limit Virginia Tech to five goals in the second half," McQuillan said. "He had some big saves."
However, the Hokies opened the second quarter with three unanswered goals, tying the contest at 6 with 7:10 left in the first half, before Guiltinan kicked a loose ball across the midfield line, picked it up on the run, and fed Landry for a sharp-angled uppercut finish from the right side of the box.
That would be the last goal of the game for the Flames.
"Our offense didn't respond and that put our defense in a tough spot and put us back on our heels," McQuillan said. Sophomore faceoff specialist Lance Bruno jets after winning a draw vs. Virginia Tech.
Less than a minute into the third quarter, Virginia Tech seized an 8-7 lead when Jack Jenkins netted his third goal of the game. Geary hit a post with a shot from the top of the box before having an underhanded shot saved low on a delayed penalty.
"Their goalie had a fantastic second half, but that was probably one of the worst halves of lacrosse I've seen from us in a long time," McQuillan said. "In lacrosse, you can't even have a quarter when you go without scoring any points, and we went a whole half. But there is a lot to learn from it, and we'll take it in stride."
"One positive is we've got a lot of film to be able to look at our mistakes and make some changes," he added. "We've got a lot of time between now and the spring season to make sure we don't have a repeat of this."
The Hokies affirmed the Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) preseason rankings that have them projected as the favorite with the Flames a close second. McQuillan said the loss to their closest rivals should add fuel to the Flames' fire as they prepare for the spring season.
"It feels a bit like a rerun here," he said, referring to the ALC tournament setback last spring. "We've got to rewrite this thing. I told the guys I have so much respect for Virginia Tech. They are a phenomenal team, but as surprising as it may sound, I still feel like we're the better team. As a coach, we've got to take responsibility for that. We didn't have our guys prepared."
He said the returning players were as much to blame for the miscues as the freshmen and other newcomers.
"We had a lot of upperclassmen, second, third and fourth-year players making mistakes we can't make and win lacrosse games," McQuillan said. "Our confidence level was pretty high and we will continue to build confidence and experience with these guys."
The Flames will have an intrasquad scrimmage later this month that will give them a chance to fix some of their mistakes in a live game simulation.
"This loss can either give us great motivation or it will eat us alive, so we are going to work hard to make sure we use it as motivation," McQuillan said.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterBruno is run over by the Hokies' faceoff specialist after losing a draw in a scrum of players including freshman middie Kason Brehm (21).
