Liberty University Club Sports
Clemson University
Flames tame Tigers with better success in faceoffs, offensive help from hammers
4/2/2023 8:52:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Fresh off Friday night's upset setback at No. 24 South Carolina, Liberty University's No. 1-ranked men's lacrosse team responded by capping its seven-game road stretch with a 12-3 triumph at ALC South competitor Clemson on Sunday afternoon.
"Today, the message was that this wasn't about Clemson," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "We needed to remind ourselves, and prove to ourselves, that we're still the team we were before (the loss to USC) and that we still have everything we wanted to accomplish in front of us."
The Flames (10-2) got 10 saves from junior goalie Eric Warnstrom, nine faceoff wins (in 15 tries) by freshman midfielder Lance Bruno, a goal and four assists from graduate attack Cooper Branham, and four goals from freshman attack Luke Branham in the decisive win over the unranked Tigers (3-8).
"Today was a good representation of (who the Flames want to be)," McQuillan said. "For all four quarters, we really controlled the game. Holding a team to three goals was a pretty strong defensive performance. Ric (Warnstrom) played great in net with 10 saves and only three goals allowed and a lot of that was because of our defensive positioning."
Bruno helped Liberty establish the tempo of the contest, as compared to the loss to the Gamecocks, who dominated the faceoffs.
"In games like Friday's, where we fell behind early on with (USC's) faceoff advantage, we weren't able to dictate the pace of the game," McQuillan said. "Playing from behind adds tension and anxiety, which you can avoid if you are on the other side of that. Scoring first and creating some separation today we were able to do that, and a big part of that … was at the faceoff spot. Today, Lance (Bruno) was able to assert himself pretty quickly."
Playing shorthanded without injured junior midfielder Keaton Mohs and junior attack Braden Landry as well as senior defenseman Ryan O'Connor, who is recovering from a bout with mononucleosis, the Flames demonstrated their depth and got key contributions from a number of their reserves.
"At this point in the year, every team can make a pretty long list of injuries and IR (injured reserve) guys," McQuillan said. "Losing Keaton on Friday was a tough pill to swallow. Hopefully, we will be able to get him back at some point (in the postseason). It was great to be able to see us, with some key guys out of our lineup, be able to come out of South Carolina with a win."
Freshman attack Bennett Newman and senior defensive midfielder Remy Newton added two goals apiece and graduate middies Cameron Carter and Mark Rolewicz and junior defensive middie Evan Shock each contributed a goal to spark the attack. Carter, sophomore middies Peyton Doyle and Will Geary, and senior long-stick midfielder Luke Rafferty each distributed one assist.
"On the offensive side of things, it was definitely a little bit of a slower pace than we wanted, and we would have liked to have seen a little more pop to our offense," McQuillan said. "One of our really bright points was the play of our hammers (Newton and Shock), setting the tone and bringing a lot of physicality to our clears. Any time you can get three goals from your defensive middies, that's a good day."
After spending the entire month of March on the road, including a spring break road trip to Provo, Utah, the Flames are looking forward to returning to the Liberty Lacrosse Fields for a 7 p.m. Good Friday showdown with No. 10 Concordia (Calif.), a team they defeated in the first round of the 2018 MCLA National Championships in Salt Lake City.
"Obviously, this weekend is the conclusion of a very busy March for us, with a lot of travel, a lot of games on the road back-to-back," McQuillan said. "We are glad that we are heading back to Lynchburg with a couple home games heading into the ALC tournament (April 29-30 at Lynchburg City Stadium)."
McQuillan expects quite a bit of shuffling around in this week's MCLA Coaches Poll, with the Flames likely dropping from the No. 1 spot and Concordia probably remaining in the top 10.
"We need to finish the season strong, with a big matchup against a ranked opponent (Concordia) and our Midnight (Mayhem) game against JMU on April 15," McQuillan said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
