Shorthanded Flames fade in fourth quarter against No. 5 Chapman, suffer 11-8 setback

Saturday, March 23

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Chapman University

Starting in place of injured sophomore Shane Supek, freshman midfielder Jayson Houck wins a faceoff for the Flames. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)

Shorthanded Flames fade in fourth quarter against No. 5 Chapman, suffer 11-8 setback

3/23/2024 11:57:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

No. 8 Liberty let an early lead fall by the wayside and allowed Chapman to dictate the pace of the game in the second half, missing its shot to move back into the top five.

Gallery: (3-24-2024) Men's lacrosse vs. Chapman

Trouble clearing the ball out of the defensive zone and putting away point-blank opportunities around the net cost Liberty University's No. 8-ranked men's lacrosse team in Saturday's 11-8 loss to No. 5 Chapman (Calif.) University at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"There were definitely moments where defensively we were holding our ground, but I lost track of the number of times our defense played really well and got a big stop, and then we were unable to clear the ball," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "There was inconsistency across the board. Offensively, there were moments where we were moving the ball and getting good looks, but weren't able to finish."

Liberty (8-4) was coming off a dramatic 14-13 victory over Utah Valley University on Thursday night, at the same time that Chapman (8-2), which had dropped from the No. 1 ranking after its loss to UVU, was doubled up at Virginia Tech, 16-8.

"They traveled across the country, they lost to VT, and then they came here and handed us the (loss)," Flames junior middie Peyton Doyle said. "So congrats to them, but we're going to bounce back and finish out the season strong. We're not going to overlook these next two teams (Clemson on April 7 at home and JMU on April 14 in Harrisonburg, Va.), but Virginia Tech's the end goal (in the April 27-28 ALC Tournament)."

The Flames were playing without sophomore midfielder Shane Supek, who has taken the majority of their faceoffs this season but may be sidelined for the rest of the season due to an injury sustained early in Thursday night's win over Utah Valley.

"That kid is the grittiest kid I've ever seen play," Doyle said. "He broke his foot in the first quarter of the game (and he played the rest of the three quarters. He's unbelievable. We all love him, and we all miss him, of course, but Jayson (Houck) did a great job keeping us in that game."

Houck, a freshman midfielder who scored the game-winning goal against UVU, won 10 out of 20 faceoffs for the Flames on the night.

"Jayson and his ability to step in for Shane tonight was probably the brightest spot," McQuillan said. "He has played a supplementary role to Shane and in a really big moment, he stepped up for us. Jayson played with next-guy-up mentality and had a great individual performance. If you had told me before the game that we would split in faceoffs, I'd have liked our chances of success. As a team, overall, I was really disappointed with the performance."

Senior middie Keaton Mohs (3 goals, 2 assists) started the scoring by taking the ball out from behind the right side of the cage and wrapping a shot into the top-left corner with 8:55 remaining in the first quarter.

Doyle (2G, 1A) then picked up a short pass from sophomore attack Luke Branham and finished from close range in the right crease while falling down for a 2-0 Liberty lead at the 7:43 mark.

Flames defenders blocked a few shots in front of senior goalie Eric Warnstrom (10 saves), who made his share of body and stick saves as well early in the contest.

After the Flames killed a man advantage for the Golden Eagles, Chapman middie Josh Vomund cut the deficit to 2-1 with a running shot down the right side.

Junior middie Will Geary stretched Liberty's lead to 3-1 with a bounce shot that skipped into the top-left corner of the net at the 1:55 mark, and the Flames were off to a flying start.

Chapman answered to cut it to 3-2 early in the second quarter. Then, at the 8:25 mark, freshman middie Rocco Reginelli brushed off a Flames defender at the top of the box and fired a bounce shot that beat Warnstrom inside the left post, tying it up at 3.

Sophomore attack Luke Campbell answered exactly one minute later to put the Flames back on top with a spectacular sidearm shot while falling down after sprinting from the top of the box to the right side.

But the Golden Eagles struck back to re-tie the contest with an open shot from the right side after being set up from behind the cage. Then, they claimed their first lead at 5-4 with 3:58 to play in the half on a shot by Elijah Bruggerman after he split two defenders in the top-left corner of the box.

Flames senior attack Braden Landry received a feed from Doyle and ripped the equalizer from the right side of the box. However, after a Liberty turnover on a second straight failed clearing attempt, Chapman held for the last shot and finished a gimme of a goal from point-blank range deep in the right crease just 4.5 seconds before halftime, putting the Golden Eagles up, 6-5.

"We fought well and we came out after halftime and weren't able to slow the pace of the game," Doyle said. "That was our big problem tonight. I think if we controlled the pace of the game, and we were able to slow them down and play them 6-on-6, we would have been able to win that game."

Branham set up Doyle for a tying finish from close range on the right side just 1:15 into the third quarter and Mohs later brought the Flames back within 8-7 at the end of the third with his second wraparound from the right side.

However, the Golden Eagles netted three unanswered goals to stretch their lead to 11-7 after Liberty was unable to capitalize on a man-up opportunity and sophomore middie Nicholas Ursino went coast to coast to beat Warnstrom on a point-blank finish.

Mohs capped the scoring with an athletic finish in front with 27 seconds left, but the Flames could get no closer.

"Keaton is phenomenal player, who is capable of doing some amazing things," McQuillan said. "Our offense as a whole made more poor decisions than good decisions. Our shot selection, where we were putting the ball on cage, was terrible, and there was a lack of accountability and a lack of effort. That is the toughest part for a coach, when a team loses and didn't give maximum effort."

The Flames, who were also playing without freshman middie Hunter Rockhill who had a severe angle sprain against UVU, have two weeks before hosting Clemson on Senior Night and traveling to JMU to end the regular season before hosting the ALC Championships April 27-28 at Lynchburg City Stadium.

"Physically, we have a couple weeks to heal, but we're going to need to get some emotional and mental preparation in, too," McQuillan said. "The healing's got to be more than just physical. Our expectations and what we know we're capable of, we're not playing anywhere close to that. We have not even seen a sniff of playing to our potential this season."

Following the final two regular-season games, McQuillan knows the stakes become significantly higher as the Flames contend for the ALC Tournament and at the MCLA National Championships in Texas.

"We are not quitting on our guys. We're going to double down on our efforts," he said. "We are going to take the responsibility and accountability for where we are. We are not going to pass the buck to our guys. We're put in a position of leadership, and we need to help elevate them, and it's going to have to be through some tough love. I know that these guys want what we want, which is why I'm optimistic we can turn this around."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer