Flames light up Tennessee with fourth-quarter fire, clinching second ALC Championship in four years

Sunday, April 28

Lynchburg, VA

3:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Tennessee

The Liberty Flames Men’s Lacrosse team defeats the Tennessee Volunteers 17-13 in the Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Championship that was held in the Lynchburg City Stadium on April 28th, 2024. (Photographed by Aziz Ibrahim)

Freshman attack Hunter Rockhill drives past two Tennessee players in Sunday's ALC Championship final. (Photos by Aziz Ibrahim)

Flames light up Tennessee with fourth-quarter fire, clinching second ALC Championship in four years

4/28/2024 9:04:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

For the second day in a row, Liberty broke open an 11-11 tie going into the final 15 minutes for a four-goal victory, improving to 10-0 all-time against the No. 10 Volunteers with a 17-13 triumph at Lynchburg City Stadium.

Gallery: (4-28-2024) ALC-final-Liberty-Tennessee

A day after eliminating No. 3-ranked, two-time defending Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Tournament champion Virginia Tech in the semifinal round, Liberty University's No. 6-ranked men's lacrosse team capped off its second crown in the ALC's four-year history by winning its duel with No. 10 Tennessee, 17-13.

A year after pulling away in the second half of last season's ALC semifinal showdown to win by a 20-11 count, the Flames (12-4) got an 11-point game (5 goals, 6 assists) from ALC Tournament Offensive Most Valuable Player Keaton Mohs and improved to 10-0 all-time against the Volunteers (11-2), who were challenging for their first conference championship in 24 years.

"That's unbelievable," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said of Mohs' performance in the final. "Keaton, I think he's the best player in the country, the best player in the ALC, and hopefully he'll be able to showcase that (at the May 6-11 National Championships in Round Rock, Texas.)"

"It's really nice having Keaton scoring at least (five) points every game," added Flames junior middie Will Geary, who netted four goals, a few off feeds from Mohs. "He's such a good distributor, but the guy can score at will. He can score whenever he wants, so that helps having the best guy in the MCLA."

The triumph came 11 years to the day after the Flames captured their first conference title, back when they were in Division II of the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC). The victory helped move Liberty ahead of Virginia Tech in the final MCLA Division I rankings before nationals, giving them a top-four seed for the second year in a row after advancing to the Final Four for the first time last May.

"In my time at Liberty, I've never won an ALC championship game," Geary said. "This is the best feeling, definitely something I'll remember for the rest of my life. I can't express this feeling right now, the ability to do this with all of the guys on the team. We've worked hard, every guy, all the blood and sweat we've put into this game all fall and spring, we can finally say that it's paid off now."

The Flames found out on Sunday night that they will be seeded fourth, behind only BYU (15-0), Texas (16-0), and Chapman (13-3) and ahead of the Hokies (13-3). Liberty will face No. 13 Northeastern (13-4), the team that dealt the Flames their first loss this season on Feb. 18 at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. The complete bracket is available on the MCLA website.

After a defensive battle for the first five minutes of Sunday's contest, Mohs set up fellow Flames senior attack Braden Landry's 45th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead at the 10:01 mark.

Mohs doubled Liberty's lead to 2-0 with a fantastic turnaround shot from a sharp angle on the right side with 8:18 to play in the first quarter. Then, less than a minute later, he received a feed from junior midfielder Peyton Doyle and netted his 40th goal of the year from deep in the left side of the box with 7:23 to play.

After a Liberty turnover on a clearing attempt, Tennessee's JD Shellenberger took a feed from Jake Schrou and finished a running shot down the left side of the box at the 3:45 mark before Schrou broke through the Flames' defense and cut the deficit to 3-2 with 1:52 left in the first.

Following a defensive stop to start the second quarter, Geary put the Flames back up by two, driving right to left behind the Volunteers' goal and ripping a shot from the left side over the defense.

Tennessee ended an eight-minute scoring drought for both teams and pulled back to within 4-3 on a driving shot by Mason Cain on the right side where he beat Flames senior goalie Eric Warnstrom (12 saves) with a shot under the crossbar at the 5:47 mark.

Liberty extended its lead to 5-3 on a submarine finish by Landry into the upper netting despite being hit after the shot by Tennessee graduate defenseman Jack Lyden, earning the first of his two two-minute penalties 4:21 before halftime.

Mohs capitalized on the man advantage after receiving an assist from Landry and finding the back of the net from short range to stretch the lead to 6-3 with 2:56 left in the half.

But Tennessee's Jonathan Liberatore answered 22 seconds later before Logan Aiello brought the Volunteers back within 6-5 just 28.5 seconds before halftime.

Mohs and Landry connected for another scoring combination to start a second-half shootout at the 14:13 mark.

Cain received an assist from Aiello and ripped a rising shot from the center of the box between two Flames, just under the crossbar, to cut it to 7-6 less than a minute later before another Liberty turnover on transition allowed Michael Ricciardo to set up Cain for the equalizer with 11:59 left in the third quarter.

Mohs responded less than two minutes later, baiting Tennessee goalie Zachary Janus and a Volunteer defender from behind the cage before darting out from behind the right post and wrapping a backhand past Janus.

Graduate attack Mark Rolewicz then received a feed from Mohs and extended Liberty's lead to 9-7 with an overhand rocket from the right side at the 7:59 mark.

Tennessee's Schrou showcased his finishing ability with three goals in a span of 1:05 to lift the Volunteers to their first lead at 10-9, emerging from behind the left side of the cage for the first one at the 7:12 mark before finishing a fast break 20 seconds later to tie it at 9-9 and rifling a shot from the left side at the 6:07 mark.

Thomas Gies extended Tennessee's lead to 11-9 with a snipe of a shot from the left perimeter, prompting the Flames to take a time out with 5:28 remaining in the third.

Warnstrom made a lunging save of a shot by Ricciardo in the top-right corner of the cage before Geary drew the Flames back within 11-10 at the 3:09 mark with a shot from the top of the perimeter as the shot clock wound down. Seconds after a man-up situation for the Flames expired, Geary struck again with a powerful shot from the top, tying it at 11 with 2:02 to go in the third.

"It always comes down to the fourth quarter with us," Geary said. "We were tied 11-11 going into the fourth quarter of (Saturday's) game (against Virginia Tech), too, and it just came down to who wanted it more. We wanted it more in the end. We're just a fourth-quarter team. We're a team full of gritty guys and we get after it in the fourth quarter."

Liberty started the fourth quarter with possession and a man advantage and sophomore middie Luke Campbell rung up the go-ahead goal with a shot from the left perimeter assisted by Mohs with 14:42 left.

Shellenberger answered with a shot from the top left side of the box off an assist from Ricciardo that tied it at 12 with 14:03 remaining in regulation. Then, at the 12:36 mark, Warnstrom blocked a running shot by Cain, but Shellenberger was right there near the right crease to pick up the rebound and pocket the putback for a 13-12 Tennessee advantage.

With 11:32 to play, freshman attack Easton Cahill took a short feed behind the cage from sophomore attack Luke Branham and sprinted out from behind the right post for a diving shot into the crease that beat Janus to tie it at 13.

The Flames capitalized on a delayed penalty to reclaim the lead at 14-13 as Mohs set up Landry for a short-ranged shot from the right side before recovering the rebound and finishing a point-blank putback near the right crease, prompting a Tennessee timeout with 8:18 to play.

Freshman middie Peyton Park made a ground-ball pickup and behind-the back pass to Branham on a successful clear. After a slashing penalty against Tennessee, Landry finished off a feed from Mohs in his favorite spot on the right side, padding the advantage to 15-13 with 4:20 remaining in regulation.

After a great save by Warnstrom, Geary reset the shot clock with a shot from the left side that struck off the left pipe and bounced out of bounds with Liberty maintaining possession. The Flames ran the clock down again before Geary all but clinched the win with a dagger of a shot from the top left of the box with just over a minute to play. Branham finished a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from Mohs and Landry on a fast break with 29 seconds to go for the final score.

"Our defense 6-on-6 and our offense 6-on-6 is the best in the MCLA," Geary said. "No one can stop us when we're on, and when it comes to Texas, the only thing that's going to stop us from winning a national championship is if we slow down in the fourth. Going with our foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, we've been tied 11-11 in both of these (ALC Tournament) games and we've pulled away."

He said the spirit of the team is what allowed the Flames to persevere and find the extra fire it needed, even as the day's heat that reached into the 80s took its toll.

"I'm gassed right now," Geary said. "I was gassed at halftime, I was gassed at the end of the third. I've been gassed all game, but it's the juice plays that get me rolling and get our team going, and it's guys who when they score and come on the sidelines screaming and juicing everyone up, that's what gives us that extra energy."

McQuillan, who said he would prefer that the Flames put their opponents away in the first three quarters rather than waiting until the fourth, was nonetheless pleased with the outcome.

"Stressed but happy," he said. "Good teams find ways to win. This game had a lot of similarities to (Saturday's) game. It's a testament to the ALC and how good the teams are and how good the level of competition has gotten, but it also is a testament to our guys and their tenacity, how they never give up, and their ability to grind. There were a lot of opportunities in that game for both teams, and neither team gave up when they got down, and that's what makes for a great lacrosse game."

Mohs, who trails only Virginia Tech's reigning MCLA DI Player of the Year and ALC Offensive Player of the Year Aidan Smith (90 points) with 82 points on the season, landed on the All-ALC First Team at attack while Geary earned first-team honors at midfield and junior Conor Guiltinan, the ALC Defensive Player of the Year, made the first team on defense. Second-team honors for the Flames included freshman midfielder Hunter Rockhill, along with senior LSM Benjamin Chun, senior defender Bryn Jungles and Warnstrom at goalie. Landry made the third team at attack, as did senior defender Matt Walker, while sophomore middie Shane Supek, who missed the second half of the season due to injury, earned honorable mention recognition.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer