Men’s lacrosse fights off Gators to finish 1-1 in Florida; prep to host No. 1 Chapman, No. 5 Utah Valley next week

Friday, March 15

Jacksonville, FL

8:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Florida

A Liberty defender and goalie Eric Warnstrom duck to save a shot by Florida middie Colin Russell in Friday night's game between former SELC rivals. (Photos by Andrew Musser)

Men’s lacrosse fights off Gators to finish 1-1 in Florida; prep to host No. 1 Chapman, No. 5 Utah Valley next week

3/16/2024 8:53:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Senior middie Keaton Mohs sparked the attack with five goals and five assists as the seventh-ranked Flames caught fire early in the fourth quarter for a 17-13 victory.

Jayson-Houck-Liberty-middie — Liberty freshman middie Jayson Houck (92) defends Gators attack Wyatt Huggins in Friday night's clash in Jacksonville, Fla..

A six-goal run midway through the fourth quarter and 10-point game from senior midfielder Keaton Mohs boosted Liberty University's No. 7-ranked men's lacrosse team to a 17-13 victory over No. 14 Florida, Friday night at a neutral site in Jacksonville, Fla.

"We have a ton of respect for Florida, which fought really, really hard for three quarters, and it wasn't until the fourth that we were able to get some distance between us and were able to breathe a little bit," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said.

Mohs stretched Liberty's lead to 13-10 with 11:40 left in the third period despite being fouled on a running shot through the right side of the box.

"A five-point game against a Top-25 opponent is a pretty good game," McQuillan said, noting that Mohs' 10 points might be close to a single-game program record. "He played outstanding tonight to lift us to a victory. I can't remember an individual player with a stat line like that, especially against a team of Florida's status."

Then, senior attack Braden Landry extended Liberty's advantage to 14-10 by ripping a shot from the right side past the Gators' goalkeeper inside the left post at the 8:35 mark. Just 1:24 later, junior middie Will Geary (4 goals, 1 assist) fed Mohs with an entry pass deep in the left side of the box for a short-ranged finish over the top of the goalie.

Florida-Lacrosse-Shane-Supek — Liberty sophomore middie Shane Supek works around a Florida defender.

Seconds after the ensuing faceoff win, sophomore middie Shane Supek — who won 22 of his 33 faceoffs on the night — fired a running shot from the top of the box that ripped into the back of the net.

Landry received Mohs' fifth assist of the night on a short feed from the right side into the middle of the box, which he caught and released with a swooping motion for a submarine finish for his fourth goal to cap the Flames' scoring on the night at the 5:43 mark.

Florida scored the last three goals, mostly against Liberty's reserves, but senior goalie Eric Warnstrom stayed in the entire time, making eight saves on the night.

"There were about 10 minutes of the fourth quarter that were pretty exceptional, but the rest of the game was sub-par," McQuillan said. "As many positive things came out of this game, and as hard as we fought, we made way too many mistakes, and until we fix that, we're not going to be contending for a national title. That's why it's so frustrating, because we see flashes of the potential that is there. If we can do that for four quarters, the sky's the limit."

Watch the broadcast of the game on Liberty Lacrosse's YouTube channel.

He said the team will have a couple days to enjoy the sand and surf on Amelia Island off the coast of Florida before returning to Lynchburg, Va., to work on fine-tuning their game before key battles next weekend against No. 5 Utah Valley on Thursday at 7 p.m. and No. 1 Chapman (Calif.) University on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"It's a nice feeling to end our Spring Break trip with a win and go to the beach to enjoy ourselves, but we've got to get back to work on Monday and throughout practice next week," McQuillan said.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer