Men’s lacrosse tames NCAA DIII Tigers in second exhibition triumph

Saturday, October 19

Lynchburg, VA

3:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Hampden-Sydney College

Flames senior middie Peyton Doyle blocks a Hampden-Sydneyt shot in front of senior defender Bryn Jungles (5) and sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Men’s lacrosse tames NCAA DIII Tigers in second exhibition triumph

10/20/2024 3:52:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Liberty dominated in faceoffs and overcame several deficits to pull ahead to stay with three unanswered goals over the final 7:02 to top Hampden-Sydney on Saturday, 13-11 at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

Peyton Doyle clears Hampden-Sydney — Doyle, who had five ground-ball pickups on the day, looks to clear one out of the Flames' defensive crease in front of Carvajal.

On a spectacular Saturday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields, graduate midfielder Keaton Mohs netted two goals and distributed five assists, senior middie Peyton Doyle added two goals and one assist, and junior attack Luke Branham netted a hat trick to lead Liberty University's men's lacrosse team to a 13-11 triumph over NCAA Division III Hampden-Sydney College.

"This is probably one of the most well-coached teams and disciplined teams we've played, and we have a lot of respect for Hampden-Sydney," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "We played most of that game either from behind or tied after coming out with a 3-0 deficit pretty quick. It was a hole that we had to dig ourselves out of, but it was a great response from our guys, who were able to match their intensity."

For the second exhibition game in a row, Flames graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett, a transfer from NCAA Division I UMass, gave the Flames a tremendous advantage in time of possession, winning 23 out of 28 draws to go with his 15 ground-ball pickups.

"Kind of the same thing as the Virginia Tech game, which we won in overtime, Caleb's proving that wasn't a fluke," McQuillan said. "That is two games in a row where he has shown up in dominant fashion, and we have to see that obviously as a huge asset and capitalize on it. They were two close wins, but I think they give us a ton of motivation and momentum going into the spring."

In the first half, despite winning 17 of 18 faceoffs in the first half, the Flames trailed 8-6 after committing 16 turnovers. Branham and sophomore attack Thomas Dyson led Liberty with two first-half goals each.

Hammett picked up where he left off in the second half, winning the third-quarter faceoff before senior midfielder Will Geary pulled Liberty back within 8-7 with a finish at the 13:12 mark. After another faceoff win by Hammett, junior middie Luke Campbell rifled a shot into the top right corner of the cage to tie it at 8 less than a minute later. Then Mohs gave the Flames their first lead, 9-8, with 7:18 remaining in the third quarter.

The Tigers rallied for back-to-back goals late in the third and early in the fourth to reclaim a 10-9 advantage before senior defender Conor Guiltinan fed Mohs on a fast break for a finish in the right crease, knotting it at 10.

Hampden-Sydney took its final lead with 8:37 to play before Mohs sparked the Flames' three-goal run to end the game by flipping under a Tigers defender, spinning through the right side of box, and netting the equalizer with a running bounce shot at the 7:02 mark.

"The best thing for us in our response was the fact that, step for step, we kept pace with what Hampden-Sydney was doing and then near the end we were able to separate ourselves and hold onto that lead," McQuillan said. "We knew coming into the fourth quarter that if we could keep it close, then obviously we had a chance. We thought that our individual skill from some of our playmakers would be able to show up in the fourth and that's what happened."

Branham converted the game-winner and completed his hat trick off assists from Mohs and Geary, slamming home a turnaround in the left crease with 4:42 remaining before Mohs worked a fast-break give-and-go to Doyle darting down the center of the field for an insurance goal with 1:43 to go.

"Keaton was feeding really well today on the fast break, and it's an element of our team that has not necessarily been there off the faceoff dot," McQuillan said, noting that Hammett's success has allowed the Flames to focus on their transition attack from the midfield. "Keaton did a really good job of controlling that aspect of the game and feeding a lot of different guys. To have five assists is a good performance."

As in the scrimmage against the Hokies, Liberty could have taken advantage of more of their possessions and put the Tigers away much earlier than they eventually did.

"We're going to continue to work and get better at possession and scoring on some of those fast-break opportunities that we get off the face," McQuillan said. "Today, shooting percentage was our biggest weakness on the offensive side of the ball. A lot of our guys didn't shoot well and gave their goalie a lot of opportunities to make some saves that our guys probably wish that they had back."

Liberty sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal made 11 saves to equal the number of goals he allowed for a 50.0 save percentage.

"I can't complain too much," McQuillan said. "It was a great performance, great fight, great effort on both sides."

Next Saturday, the Flames will hold their Blue & White scrimmage at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields before opening their spring semester with a final exhibition game against another NCAA DIII program, Roanoke College in Salem, on Feb. 1.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant

Gallery: (10-19-2024) Men's lacrosse Hampden-Sydney