Liberty University Club Sports
James Madison University
Flames pull away from Dukes in season-ending ALC North duel, entertaining lively Midnight Mayhem crowd
4/16/2023 8:13:37 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Liberty University’s men’s lacrosse team concluded its regular season and delighted a sizeable crowd on hand for its 11th annual Midnight Mayhem game by lighting up the night frequently with flamethrower goal celebrations in a 17-8 triumph over ALC North rival James Madison University, early Sunday morning at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
“We wanted to finish off the year with a game that we felt really good about going into the playoffs,” Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “It definitely was not our best performance, but it’s tough to be super critical. This caps off a pretty successful season with (12) wins and a current ranking of No. 3 in the country. We’re exactly where we wanted to be at this point in the year with the No. 1 seed in the ALC tournament and really everything in front of us.”
Liberty (12-2) fell down 2-0 early before junior midfielder Keaton Mohs — who had missed the past two and a half games after separating his shoulder in a March 31 loss at South Carolina — emerged from behind the left post and finished a backhanded shot as he dove into the crease at the 5:50 mark of the first quarter. Exactly two minutes later, with the Flames on a two-man advantage, freshman attack Bennett Newman received a pass from Mohs in the left side of the box and fired a sharp-angled shot past JMU goalie Aiden Miller, tying the game at 2-2.
“It’s always competitive in the ALC,” said Mohs, (3 goals, 1 assist). “You get everybody’s best swings so it’s fun playing them. We know a bunch of their guys, so it’s very competitive because of the connections that we have with them, but it’s super fun.”
Connor Rice put the Dukes back on top with a sidearmed shot from the top left side of the box before Flames graduate forward Cooper Branham (3G, 3A) received a pass in the left crease and finished from point-blank range 7 seconds before the end of the first quarter, knotting the score at 3-3.
The Flames seized a 4-3 lead on a spectacular catch-and-release behind-the-back shot by Mohs in front after taking a crossing feed from freshman attack Luke Branham with 11:56 left in the half.
“I had to play a little conservatively on defense and not throw my body out there too much, but in the heat of the moment, an athlete kind of reacts,” Mohs said. “Both those (first two goals) were set up by our team moving the ball around and that’s kind of when we started clicking and getting the ball in the back of the net. That’s how you win at the end of the season.”
Just 52 seconds later, Newman rocketed a short-range shot from the left side of the box inside the left post before senior attack Cameron Carter capitalized on a crossing pass from Cooper Branham, extending the edge to 6-3.
After Nick Krug stopped the bleeding for JMU (5-7) with a turnaround shot from the top of the box, sophomore middie Will Geary rifled a shot from the top left side, padding the advantage to 7-4 with 6:02 left in the half. Less than 30 seconds later, Luke Branham put away a pass from Carter, and Liberty led 8-4 at the half.
The Dukes trimmed the deficit to 8-5 early in the third quarter on a shot by Carter Diamond before the Flames turned up the heat with back-to-back goals by Luke Branham on a drive into the right crease and graduate forward Mark Rolewicz, who received a feed from sophomore middie Peyton Doyle as he cut in front and pocketed a behind-the-back shot into the top-left corner of the cage at the 10:24 mark.
Cooper Branham answered a JMU goal by uncorking a shot from the top of the box into the upper netting before Rice trimmed the gap to 11-7 with another sidearmed shot from the top right side of the box with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth, Mohs padded the lead to 12-7 by taking a pass from Cooper Branham from behind the left side of the cage and scoring on a submarine shot from the left side. Less than 30 seconds later, Carter received a feed from Geary on the right side and ripped a sharp-angled shot over Miller, stretching the advantage to 13-7.
JMU’s Chris Honarmand netted a fast-break finish at the 8:40 mark before Geary responded by threading a shot through traffic inside the right post with 4:25 to go.
Cooper Branham buried back-to-back shots from the top of the box before Shane Supek capped the scoring by catching and releasing an entry pass from fellow freshman middie Ben LaPole, twisting his body as he snuck a diving shot inside the left post.
“One of the best attributes of this team is how balanced we are and how we just have so many guys that can find production and find the back of the net,” McQuillan said. “We’re not a team that you can just cut off the head and the body dies. I feel like if you cut off the head, another one grows because we’ve just got so many guys that can be dangerous.”
Freshman faceoff specialist Lance Bruno won 14 out of 20 attempts while sophomore defender Bryn Jungles had five ground-ball pickups, senior defensive middie Remy Newton added four, and junior goalie Eric Warnstrom made four saves.
“We’ll celebrate this morning, but we need to turn the page on this one and have kid of an elimination mindset because from here on out, we’re not guaranteed anything except our next game if we win,” McQuillan said. “We definitely have to be prepared every single game from here on out because you’re going to get some really good teams that are playing for their lives as well. Everyone’s in the same boat with that win-or-go-home mentality, so we can’t underestimate anybody at this point of the season. We’re looking forward to it.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
