Liberty University Club Sports
West Virginia University
Flames torch Mountaineers in second half to clinch an ALC Tournament bid
3/26/2023 4:14:05 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Since suffering its only setback of the regular season to Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) South Region opponent Virginia Tech, Liberty University’s men’s lacrosse team (9-1) has won seven in a row, including five straight road games, to overtake the Hokies at the No. 1 spot in last week’s MCLA Division I Coaches Poll.
On early Sunday afternoon at the West Virginia University Rec Center in Morgantown, W.Va., the Flames opened a 5-2 lead after the first quarter and 9-4 advantage at the half before pulling away for a 21-6 triumph over the ALC North Region rival Mountaineers (5-2), snapping their five-game winning streak.
“It was a really good response by our guys,” Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “If we had any concern going in, it was the quick turnaround from yesterday’s (16-2 rout of ALC North foe Pittsburgh, played Saturday night), but the guys came out and responded really well. This win puts us in great position, and we can put ourselves in the driver’s seat for that No. 1 seed and first-round bye in the ALC Tournament with a win against JMU in our Midnight (Mayhem) game,” set for April 15 at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
He said the Flames took care of business on their third straight road trip, improving to 3-0 against ALC North competition.
“WVU was similar to the game (against Pitt on Saturday) in that they competed with us early, even scoring the first goal and tied us at 2-2 for a little bit before we really started pulling away in the second half,” McQuillan said. “In the past WVU has played us pretty competitively, so it was good for our guys’ confidence to have level of success that we had. That showed the experience that these guys have and that they’ve developed over the last few weeks. We want to continue to build confidence in who we are as a team and who we are ultimately working toward becoming, and this was a great indicator that we’re heading in the right direction.”
Graduate midfielder Cameron Carter filled in on attack for injured junior Braden Landry and sparked the Flames’ offense with two goals and seven assists.
“We had to make a change with some of our guys being out and moved Cameron Carter up to the attack and he had a phenomenal game,” McQuillan said, noting that Carter was the recipient of the post-game Flame Chain award. “It was a big day for him. He did a great job of distributing the ball and created a lot of opportunities for our guys.”
Junior midfielder Keaton Mohs led all scorers with five goals while freshman attack Bennett Newman netted a hat trick for the second game in a row. Sophomore midfielder Peyton Doyle, graduate middie Mark Rolewicz, and sibling attackmen Cooper Branham, a graduate student, and freshman Luke Branham each added two goals. Graduate middie Ethan Bohannon, junior middie Ryan Merbach, and sophomore middie Ezra Anderson each contributed one score.
“Anytime you are able to get to that 20-point mark, it’s been a good day on the offensive side of the ball,” McQuillan said.
Defensively, the Flames held the Mountaineers to just two goals after halftime. Junior goalie Eric Warnstrom made eight saves while allowing five goals and freshman backup Camden Harriman made two saves and yielded just one goal in relief.
“In the second half especially, we were locking things down defensively,” McQuillan said. “WVU has some good athletes and talented players, and they play a very physical brand of lacrosse. From start to finish, they were playing really aggressively and there was no quit in them.”
Liberty again experienced success at the faceoff dot with freshman faceoff specialist Lance Bruno winning 8-of-11 chances and freshman middie Shane Supek taking 7-of-9.
Next weekend, the Flames will conclude their away regular-season schedule by traveling to SELC powerhouse South Carolina for a showdown with the defending MCLA national champion Gamecocks on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a clash at ALC South contender Clemson on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“We need to shift our focus quickly with a short week of practice to prepare for our last road trip,” McQuillan said.
With the weekend sweep of Pittsburgh and West Virginia, the Flames clinched a spot in the April 29-30 ALC Championships to be played for the second season in a row at Lynchburg’s City Stadium.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
