Liberty University Club Sports
Concordia University Irvine
Late rally lifts No. 3 Liberty over No. 10 Golden Eagles in first home game since Feb. 26
4/8/2023 12:01:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Timing is everything in lacrosse, as with many other sports, and Liberty University's No. 3-ranked men's lacrosse team couldn't have picked a much better moment to seize its first lead in Friday night's game against No. 10 Concordia (Calif.) University than with 2:53 remaining in regulation.
One night after losing at No. 2 Virginia Tech, 14-11, the Golden Eagles (7-4) came up just short against the Flames (11-2), falling 11-10 in sudden-death overtime in the first game at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields since Feb. 26.
"It was a great team win," said Flames freshman middie Peyton Doyle, a transfer from NCAA Division I Sienna who was playing his first game at home after injuring his knee and having surgery on it in the fall semester. "I don't think we've played better as a team all year, because we kept coming back, and they kept going up. We were down the entire game and we were just able to fight our way back into it."
Liberty, which dropped two spots in this week's MCLA Coaches Poll after being upset by No. 17 reigning MCLA national champion South Carolina, got a hat trick from graduate attack Cameron Carter, two goals each by freshman attack Luke Branham, sophomore midfielder Will Geary, and Doyle and single scores from freshmen attackmen Tanner Wallen and Bennett Newman, including the game-winner with 1:10 left in the 4:00 extra period.
"He's got a knack for those late-game theatrics," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said of Newman, who netted a putback in the closing seconds of a 12-11 win at Utah Valley on March 17. "He's a great kid, a great athlete. He's a kid that's easy to root for. Tanner did great, too. He stepped up and he was exactly what we needed. He was reliable, he was trustworthy, he was patient. He showed a lot of growth tonight, so I was proud of his effort."
The Flames were playing without injured junior midfielder Keaton Mohs and junior attack Braden Landry as well as graduate attack Cooper Branham, who was battling a migraine headache throughout Good Friday.
"We were dealing with a lot today in terms of injuries, with a lot of guys out of the starting lineup with some last-minute scratches," McQuillan said. "Losing Cooper two hours before the game didn't give us a lot of time to prepare for it, so I wasn't surprised we came out a little bit slow offensively because we had guys in there we weren't necessarily prepared to have in there."
Liberty found itself in an early 3-0 hole after the opening 10 minutes of play as Concordia, which will become the first NCAA Division II program in California next season, took the initiative to go on the offensive. Senior midfielder Tyler Collins capitalized on a man-advantage seconds after a penalty against Geary before Chad McFadden and Jeremy Barnes finished shots from the top of the box.
Geary got the Flames on the scoreboard by firing a shot from the top of the box with 2:27 left in the first quarter before Wallen picked up a blocked outlet pass that bounced high into the air and landed in the center of the box before pocketing a point-blank shot into the lower corner of the cage.
"He hasn't started a game this season, but he stepped in and played the part," Doyle said of Wallen. "He balled out all game. It was a really nice finish and it gave us a lot of momentum."
Luke Branham pulled the Flames within 4-3 and netted the equalizer with unassisted goals at the 11:05 and 2:57 marks of the second quarter, and the first half ended tied at 4.
"The guys just showed a ton of perseverance in being able to continue to just respond, especially being down 3-0 pretty quickly," McQuillan said. "They finally found their mojo and were able to find some offense late, so it was a great adjustment by them."
Concordia reclaimed a 5-4 lead early in the third quarter when McFadden received an entry feed from Andrew Buckley as he cut through the right crease and put away a short-ranged shot.
Carter, who has thrived on attack since being moved up from midfield, answered at the 8:17 mark by emerging from the right side of the box and ripping a shot across the grain inside the right post.
However, just as it did to start the contest, the Golden Eagles netted three consecutive scores early in the second half to break open a tie game.
Middie Nick Beeson netted the go-ahead goal off a fast-break feed from Eric Obispo with 5:46 left in the third quarter. Collins then rifled a shot from the top left side of the box with 4:58 to go, expanding the Golden Eagles' lead to 7-5. Just 33 seconds later, Nolan Folsom received a quick fast-break pass from fellow sophomore middie Brady Galbraith in the left side of the box and fired shot inside the right post.
However, once again, the Flames rallied, pulling within 7-6 on back-to-back goals in the final 54.5 seconds of the third quarter on shots by Doyle from the top left of the box and Geary right up the middle.
Doyle tied the contest with 9:50 to play in the fourth after driving between defenders into the right crease for an open finish. Concordia answered 40 seconds later when Collins ripped a shot from the right side before Carter tied it at 9-9 by slicing through the right side of the box and putting away a running shot.
The Flames seized their first lead of the game on Carter's submarine-styled uppercut of a shot from the right side of the box for a short-lived 10-9 advantage. But again, Collins responded, this time with a clutch equalizer between defenders at the top of the box ripped just beneath the crossbar with 1:06 to go.
The Flames withstood a few quality scoring chances in the final minute of regulation and the teams went into a 4:00 sudden-death overtime period tied at 10.
After a first two minutes of back-and-forth action that was not unlike the first four quarters, Newton capitalized on the game-winner with 1:10 to go by launching a fadeaway turnaround missile from the right side.
"Bennett's shot was huge in overtime," Doyle said. "He's got the hot hand right now. He's been a clutch guy so far."
Flames freshman faceoff specialist Lance Bruno won 12 out of 20 attempts and junior goalie Eric Warnstrom made 11 saves for better than 50 percent success rates in both departments.
Friday night's game had a "Top Gun" theme to it with a final halftime performance by the first-year Club Sports LU Dance team starting off to "Danger Zone," the song from the soundtrack by Kenny Loggins.
The Flames will conclude their regular season with their annual Midnight Mayhem matchup on April 15 against ALC North rival JMU at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields before competing for their second ALC Tournament championship in three seasons, April 29-30 at Lynchburg City Stadium.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
