Liberty University Club Sports
University of South Carolina
Top-ranked Flames upset by defending national champion Gamecocks
3/31/2023 11:21:41 PM | Men's Lacrosse
A stick violation and an injury early in the second quarter spelled double jeopardy for Liberty University’s No. 1-ranked men’s lacrosse team, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped by No. 24 South Carolina, 12-10, Friday night in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (4-7) scored three times in quick succession on a three-minute non-releasable penalty at the start of the second quarter after one of the Flames’ sticks was deemed illegal due to a string placement. That allowed South Carolina to expand its lead to 5-1 before the Flames (9-2) lost junior midfielder Keaton Mohs to an upper-body injury moments later.
“We were playing from behind that whole game and had a few unfortunate things happen,” Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “We have the mentality that the next guy has to step up, but (Mohs) is a tough guy to replace. The guys did a good job of stepping up and filling in, and they didn’t give up. They fought all the way to the end, always finding a way to battle back and keep it close. But we kept putting ourselves back in too many holes.”
The upset loss for Liberty comes 12 days after USC upset Virginia Tech, knocking the Hokies from their No. 1 ranking.
“South Carolina is definitely turning it on at this point of the season,” Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “They are a team that has probably flown under the radar if that’s even possible for a defending (MCLA) national champion. We knew coming in here that this was a very strong South Carolina team. Still, to lose to them was disappointing because this was a game that was definitely within our grasp.”
A critical factor in the Gamecocks’ favor was the time of possession, which stemmed from a dominant performance in faceoffs, winning 15 out of 20 for the contest.
“All the credit to South Carolina and their faceoff guy, who is probably one of the best faceoff guys we’ve competed against in the MCLA,” McQuillan said. “We won two faceoffs because they jumped early on violations and only had three other faceoff wins the whole game.”
Flames freshmen faceoff specialists Shane Supek and Lance Bruno both won two draws, but lost 10 and four, respectively.
“If you have a dominant faceoff guy and you’re behind, you’ve always got a chance,” McQuillan said. “That was definitely not a strength for us. The possession time and number of possessions South Carolina was afforded because of their ability to dominate in that area was impossible for us to counteract. That is definitely something to work on and try to plan for. We couldn’t balance it out.”
McQuillan wasn’t overly concerned to be trailing 2-1 after the first quarter, when the Flames’ attack took some time to warm up despite temperatures in the upper 70-degree range.
“We kept them to two goals and it was a defensive battle,” he said. “It took awhile for both teams to find their groove. Offensively. South Carolina started to find the back of the net (on the man advantage). They got the jumpstart they needed and essentially were able to hold onto that lead for the rest of the game. When they were able to score and go back to the faceoff dot, they were able to get the ball back almost every time, which made it hard to keep up.”
The Flames were paced offensively by graduate attack Cooper Branham’s five goals and one assist. Will Geary netted two goals, one assist, and three ground ball pickups and fellow sophomore midfielder midfielder Peyton Doyle and freshmen attackmen Bennett Newman Luke Branham each added one goal with Newman and graduate midfielder Cameron Carter both distributing two assists.
Junior goalie Eric Warnstrom kept Liberty in the game by making 15 saves on the night.
The Flames drew within 12-10 on a bouncing shot by Geary from the left side with 2:41 remaining, but the Flames allowed the Gamecocks to run out the clock with two nearly 80-second possessions back to back. The second came on a man advantage after a Liberty defender delivered a hit to the head of a USC player with just over 1:20 remaining in regulation.
“When you get a penalty, it’s especially tough to come back on a team,” McQuillan said. “South Carolina is a very good team and it looks like they’re gearing up for another title run, not only in the SELC Tournament but also for the (MCLA) national championship, as are we.”
The Flames will faceoff with Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) South opponent Clemson (3-7), which hasn’t played since losing to Virginia Tech, 20-12, on March 18, on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Tigers’ home field.
“We will take (Saturday) off and get some rest before a big ALC matchup,” McQuillan said. “That will be a quick turnaround, and a chance to respond.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
