Flames trounce Wolfpack, set for challenging Spring Break road swing to Florida

Sunday, March 10

Lynchburg, VA

12:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

NC State University

Flames junior defender Benjamin Chun (77) chases a loose ball in Liberty's 21-5 rout of ALC South Region foe North Carolina State on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. (Photos by Andrew Musser)

Flames trounce Wolfpack, set for challenging Spring Break road swing to Florida

3/11/2024 12:06:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Liberty got goals from 14 different players, rotating in all four midfield lines and using all three of its goalies in the 21-5 triumph.

Capping off a dominating weekend in Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) play, Liberty University's men's lacrosse team got goals from 14 different players in a 21-5 triumph over ALC South Region opponent North Carolina State University, Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"It was kind of similar to our game on Friday," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said of the 16-2 rout of ALC North Region rival Pittsburgh. "We got out to a good, quick start and were able to control the game from start to finish. We had a lot of different players score, both in goals and assists, and I'd be surprised if that wasn't a record with 14 different goal-scorers."

Seven different Liberty players contributed two goals, including sophomore midfielder Shane Supek, who also won 12 out of 20 faceoffs.

"Shane continues to develop and he's a fighter," McQuillan said. "N.C. State had more success than what Pitt did on Friday in faceoffs, but he was super resilient today and with two goals as well, he is a Jack of all trades for us."

Keaton-Mohs-Liberty-middie-NC-State — Flames senior middie Keaton Mohs was one of seven Liberty players with two goals.

Three other middies scored twice for Liberty — senior Keaton Mohs, junior Will Geary, and freshman Hunter Rockhill — along with three attackmen, senior Braden Landry and freshmen Easton Cahill and Thomas Dyson. Sophomore attackmen Luke Branham and Luke Campbell both scored one goal and distributed a total of seven assists, with five coming out of the stick of Branham. Graduate middie Mark Rolewicz also had a goal and two assists.

McQuillan was pleased with the way the Flames controlled the tempo from the outset and were able to execute offensively on the fast break as well as out of their set offense while not putting themselves on their heels with turnovers or penalties.

"It was a pretty complete game," McQuillan said. "We were able to push the ball in transition, got a lot of opportunities on fast break, and were only called for one penalty, after not having a single penalty against Pitt on Friday. We ran all three of our goalies and all four of our midfield lines and were really diligent in playing clean, keeping ourselves out of the penalty box."

He said it has taken a few weeks for the new offensive system implemented in the preseason to start clicking and it is just starting to fire on all cylinders.

"At the midpoint of the season, you definitely want to feel like you are having success and a high level of comfort working on attack as a team," McQuillan said. "It was good for the guys to get a couple games under their belts playing our brand of lacrosse, in our system, where we are not worried about our opponent and what they're trying to do. We could focus on the fundamentals and the team did a great job of executing and building some momentum going (into their Spring Break road trip to Florida)."

Stephen-Westlake-Liberty-lacrosse — Flames senior LSM Stephen Westlake (48) defends a Wolfpack player with ball.

After leading 12-1 at halftime, Liberty only outscored NC State by a 5-4 margin in the third quarter before closing out the game by winning the fourth quarter, 4-0.

"NC State got the first three goals of the second half," McQuillan said. "They came out early in that third quarter with some energy and started the process of clawing back into the game. We took a timeout at the end of their run and challenged guys to play four quarters of consistent lacrosse, and the guys responded well and held them the rest of the way."

In goal, senior Eric Warnstrom made four saves and allowed just one goal before giving way to sophomore Camden Harriman, who shut the Wolfpack out by making five saves. Freshman Ian Carvejal had a rougher time, allowing four goals in the third quarter while stopping just two shots.

The No. 7-ranked Flames (6-2) will face much more challenging opponents in Gainesville, Fla., where they will challenge No. 4 BYU on Thursday at 8 p.m. and the No. 11 Gators on Friday at 8 p.m.

"Based off fact that these two programs are more battle tested, having played and competed against high-level programs, we did what we needed to this weekend to prepare for them," McQuillan said.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer