Liberty University Club Sports
ALC Playoffs
Flames let three-goal lead evaporate in 14-13 double-OT loss to Hokies in ALC final
4/30/2023 8:52:44 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Liberty University’s No. 3-ranked men’s lacrosse team had No. 1 Virginia Tech on the ropes late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Championship Final at Lynchburg’s City Stadium, but couldn’t deliver the knockout punch.
Instead, the Hokies (14-2) slipped away and scored the final three goals of regulation and tacked on the game winner in the second four-minute sudden-death overtime period for a dramatic 14-13 come-from-behind win over the Flames (13-3).
“We were where we needed to be and unfortunately, that’s why the game of lacrosse and sports are so fun to play because anything can happen,” Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “Some of those things that happened in the fourth quarter are probably going to haunt us for a while (but) I can’t help but be proud of our guys and how they responded and how they’ve responded all season.”
“We just came up short at the end there,” senior defensive middie Remy Newton added. “We didn’t close out that fourth quarter like we should have. We had a lot of opportunities to capitalize, but it didn’t work out our way. I for sure would like to face (the Hokies) again at (the May 8-13 MCLA National Championships in Round Rock, Texas).”
Virginia Tech receives the conference’s autobid to nationals while the Flames will advance with at-large bid and await their seeding and first-round pairings to be announced tonight.
“This is unfortunate,” McQuillan said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games and have come out on the positive side of things, so it’s tough that in the biggest moment so far this year we come up a little bit short. It hurts. We’ve just got to regroup and look forward to Texas.”
The Hokies ended Sunday’s first half the way they did the second, a 3-0 run to seize a 9-8 lead before extending it to 10-8 just 33 seconds into the third quarter. However, Liberty responded with a 5-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to seize a 13-10 lead with 9:07 to play when junior middie Keaton Mohs dumped a pass down low to freshman forward Luke Branham for a the first of his three goals on a point-blank turnaround finish with the Flames on a man advantage.
“It was a game of runs,” McQuillan said. “We went up, they went up, we got it close, they got it close. It was just a back-and-forth great game, from a lacrosse fan’s perspective. That’s how I wish all of our games were. To be a part of something like that, you’ve got to put it on the line and you’ve got to risk that and our guys did that.”
Flames sophomore attack Braden Landry, who scored a game-high four goals, lifted Liberty to early 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but Virginia Tech middies Will Stock and Matthew Pounder answered with equalizers before ALC offensive player of the year Aidan Smith gave the Hokies their first lead with a shot from the right side that got past Flames junior goalie Eric Warnstrom.
Smith hit a pipe with his next shot before having an open look from the middle netted by Warnstrom for one of his season-high 24 saves. The Flames capitalized on their next possession when freshman middie Bennett Newman worked the ball around the back side of the Hokies’ cage and set up Branham who fed a short pass to his older brother, graduate attack Cooper Branham (3 goals, 4 assists, game-high 7 ground ball pickups) in front, where he tied the game at 3.
With 16 seconds left in the first period, Flames junior middie Keaton Mohs (4 assists) netted his only goal of the game, tying the contest at 4. At the 12:44 mark of the second, Liberty seized a 5-4 advantage when Landry sent a backdoor pass to sophomore middie Will Geary for an open shot that he threaded between Virginia Tech goalie William Eckert and the right post.
Luke Branham extended Liberty’s lead to 6-4 at the 10:26 mark, but less than a minute later, Dan Weber pulled the Hokies back within 6-5 by picking up a loose ball in the right crease and pocketing a shot into the top-left corner of the net.
Landry slid into scoring position and received a cross-crease pass from Cooper Branham for a point-blank finish that gave the Flames a 7-5 advantage with 7:38 to play in the first half. But Tyler Crookes responded 34 seconds later for the Hokies with a driving bounce shot that got past Warnstrom off the crossbar and into the back of the net.
With 4:04 left in the half, senior attack Cameron Carter sent a pass to Mohs at the top of the box and he fired an assist into Luke Branham for a point-blank top-shelf finish in front, extending Liberty’s lead to 8-6.
The Hokies went on a man-advantage immediately after and Grayson Barker caught the rebound of Tyler Harper’s shot from the left side and stuck in a putback with 2:17 left before Smith netted the equalizer on a driving shot into the right crease with 1:55 to go. Virginia Tech won the ensuing faceoff and Smith put the Hokies ahead, 9-8, with a great move around a defender in the right crease and cut back to the middle before bouncing a shot from short range past Warnstrom at the 1:09 mark.
Kyle Dickson kept the Hokies offensive rolling to start the second half, finishing a running bounce shot down the right side of the box just 33 seconds into the third quarter. Landry finally stopped the bleeding by taking a pass from Mohs in front and sneaking a deflected backhanded shot past Eckert.
Virginia Tech’s Alex Ashley and Jared Cole hit a crossbar and pipe, respectively, with shots from the right and left sides before Cooper Branham received a feed from Geary running behind the cage, tying the game at 10 with 11:49 left in the third quarter.
Warnstrom made a spectacular high save of a point-blank shot by Barker in the right crease and later blocked three shots from different angles around the cage before Cole hit the crossbar with a shot that bounced out.
“Eric was lights out,” McQuillan said. “He played great and responded really well. He’s been a huge part of why we are who we are and how we got here.”
The Flames surged back in front with 1:15 to play in the third quarter when Mohs fed a pass to Geary who found Carter wide open in the right crease for an easy finish into the top right pocket of the net. Mohs was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the goal, putting the Hokies on a man advantage, but Warnstrom snagged a shot ripped by Cole before sending a short pass to Newton, who split two Hokies attackmen and cleared the ball into the offensive end.
The Flames won the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter before Carter rocketed a phenomenal shot into the top right corner as he cut into the left side of the box, increasing the lead to 12-10 at the 14:19 mark. The Hokies were assessed a two-minute non-releasable penalty and the Flames extended their advantage to 13-10 as Luke Branham completed his hat trick.
However, Liberty would not score again, allowing four unanswered goals, including the game-winner with 3:19 left in the second four-minute overtime period.
“We’re not going to be defined by a one-goal overtime loss in the championship game because we know who we are and we know what it took to get here and we’re confident that we’re going to have a ton of success at nationals,” McQuillan said.
The Flames were playing without freshman faceoff specialist Lance Bruno, who suffered a concussion in Saturday’s semifinal win over Tennessee. Graduate Ethan Bohannan held his own in relief, winning 13 of 31 faceoffs for the contest.
“Ethan Bohannan stepped up in a big way like he normally does and I’m really proud of him and how he played,” Newton said.
“Bo gave us everything that we needed in order to be in that game, so we’ve got that next-man-up mentality,” McQuillan added.
The Flames will fly to Texas next Sunday before starting national tournament play that Monday.
“We’ve just got to get back to work tomorrow and put our head down and keep grinding,” Newton said. “That’s the plan. We’ll let this feeling burn a little bit and come out next week in Texas and show them up.”
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
