Flames battle high winds, great odds, nearly upset No. 1 ALC rival Hokies on home field

Wednesday, February 28

Blacksburg, VA

5:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Virginia Tech

Flames freshman defender/long-stick middie Peyton Park guards a Virginia Tech player in Wednesday night's 10-9 loss in Blacksburg. (Photos by Andrew Musser)

Flames battle high winds, great odds, nearly upset No. 1 ALC rival Hokies on home field

2/28/2024 8:25:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Liberty, which moved up one spot to No. 7 in this week's MCLA rankings, slipped to 2-2 with its second one-goal setback.

On a blustery night in Blacksburg, with wind gusts reaching as high as 40 mph, Liberty University's No. 7-ranked men's lacrosse team weathered the storm but couldn't quite complete its comeback bid against top-ranked and undefeated Virginia Tech in Wednesday's 10-9 defeat, in the inaugural "Battle of the Blue Ridge Belt."

Senior middie Keaton Mohs scored four goals and added an assist, senior goalie Eric Warnstrom made 15 saves, and senior middie Stephen Westlake picked up eight ground balls while sophomore middie Shane Supek won 11 of 19 faceoffs to keep the Flames (2-2) in the game against the host Hokies (6-0).

Will-Geary-drives-Virginia-Tech — Flames junior middie Will Geary drives against the Hokies.

"It was a close one," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said after the Flames rallied from a 9-5 deficit going into the fourth quarter. "We mounted a little bit of a comeback late, but unfortunately ran out of steam there and came up a little bit short. Obviously, our goal was to get a win, but we stood toe-to-toe with the No. 1-ranked team in the country and know that if we see them again, at either the ALC Tournament or at (MCLA) nationals, we'll be able to compete with them."

More than a man advantage, the wind factored in the favor of the team playing with it at its back, which outscored the team battling against the wind 15-4 for the contest.

"The weather was ridiculous, with rain and cold and high winds, but it was definitely an issue for both sides, and Virginia Tech had to play in the same environment as we did," McQuillan said. "It was very different with wind at your back and not in your face, as it was in the first and third quarters, when it was tough sledding for a while. The third quarter really was the tale of the tape."

Virginia Tech attack Aiden Smith, who paced his team with 58 goals and 35 assists last season, started the scoring with a wraparound shot from the right side of the cage past Warnstrom with 11:49 to go in the first quarter. It was Smith's 17th goal in just his sixth game this season.

The Hokies doubled their lead to 2-0 on transition at the 7:44 mark with Smith driving up the left wing and setting up Jared Cole for a slam-dunk finish from point-blank range in the left crease.

Sophomore middie Shane Supek's shot glanced off the top of the crossbar before senior middie Keaton Mohs drew the Flames back within 2-1 with a spinning shot from high in the box that ripped into the back of the net with 3:11 to play in the quarter before sophomore attack Luke Branham tied it up with a shot from 25 feet out after ducking under a defender.

The Flames seized a 3-2 lead 8:05 before halftime when Mohs received a pass from behind the net and fired a shot from the left side past Virginia Tech goalie Andrew Wickman, but the Hokies were given an automatic faceoff win following an infraction and tied the contest at 3 seconds later on a point-blank shot from the right side.

Junior attack Braden Landry put Liberty back on top, 4-3, at the 5:13 mark with a quick catch-and-release shot off a short assist from sophomore attack Luke Branham.

However, with the wind at their backs, the Hokies went on a 6-1 spurt to take control late in the third quarter.

Westlake picked up a ground ball deep in the Flames' defensive zone, but turned it over behind the goal and the Hokies quickly capitalized, with Cole finishing a feed in front to tie it up at 4 with 12:16 left in the third.

Dan Webber then put Virginia Tech back on top with a sharp-angled shot from the right side for a 5-4 lead with 9:12 to play in the quarter.

Hokies' middie Lucas Verrier made a spin move as he emerged from behind the left side of the cage and finished into the top-right corner to extend the lead to 6-4 before Kyle Dixon's shot from the left side beat Warnstrom.

With a 1:00 man advantage and automatic faceoff win following a penalty assessed to Dixon, sophomore Luke Campbell unleashed a rocket of a shot from long range on the left side that sneaked past Wickman to put the Flames back within 7-5, but Virginia Tech capitalized on a fast break and Tyler Crookes stretched the edge to 9-5 with a nifty move around the left side of the box.

Mohs ended the skid for Liberty with a tomahawk of a shot from the left side that skipped past Wickman to make it a 9-6 contest at the 12:54 mark. Mohs' fourth goal of the game on a leaping wraparound from the right side cut the deficit to 9-7 with 11:42 remaining in regulation.

Sophomore middie Peyton Doyle's running bounce shot from the top of the box struck off the right post before the Flames retained possession and freshman attack Hunter Rockhill creeped out from behind the right endline and uncorked an impossibly sharp-angled shot inside the far post to make it a one-goal game.

Virginia Tech's Zach Morgan hit a pipe with a driving shot through the right side of the box before Smith bounced in a driving shot from the left to pad the Hokies' lead to 10-8 with 5:54 to play.
Rockhill drew the Flames back within 10-9 with a spectacular driving shot from left to right across the box and an upper-net finish with one second left on the shot clock and 4:27 to play in the contest.

"That was a testament to the faith we had and the potential we saw in Hunter Rockhill, who played a tremendous game today," McQuillan said. "It is great having a dynamic playmaker at times when you need goals. Both goals he scored came at very important points in the game, and we hope to continue to see his growth and development and success."

Luke-Campbell-Virginia-Tech — Flames sophomore attack Luke Campbell is checked as he cuts toward the crease.

Back-to-back saves by Warnstrom ended Virginia Tech possessions, but Liberty couldn't get a quality shot off on its best last chance to score before the Hokies cleared and effectively ran out the clock with the Flames on a man-down for the final minute.

"Being man-down to finish the game hampered our ability to create a turnover," McQuillan said. "We tried, obviously, but they had some good athletes and a couple guys had good runs."
He said untimely turnovers ultimately played a greater role in the final score.

"Unfortunately, we gave them a lot of extra opportunities, and in a low-scoring game that ends 10-9, every goal and every possession matters," McQuillan said. "We had a few there that they were able to capitalize on when we made mistakes. We just need to do a better job of eliminating mental errors, and stop letting teams get back into games, as Tech did in the third quarter to take and build a lead."

In an extremely busy week, with the Flames playing four games in eight days, they will face a quick turnaround, with back-to-back games against Connecticut and West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"Coming off (Saturday's) win over South Carolina, which took this Virginia Tech team to overtime (last Friday), and Virginia tech, the No. 1 team in the country, we've faced a couple of very difficult opponents, so we have to be very prepared not to let our guard down," McQuillan said. "We can't underestimate opponents coming off two pretty intense games. After being the underdog, and having a lot to play for, both WVU and UConn are going to come in with that some mentality."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer