Flames experiment with offensive rotations, torch Temple in ALC North opener

Saturday, March 22

Lynchburg, VA

3:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Temple University

Flames graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett won 12 of his 14 attempts against Temple on Saturday at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Flames experiment with offensive rotations, torch Temple in ALC North opener

3/22/2025 8:31:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Photo Gallery

Liberty opened an 18-0 lead before allowing the Owls to get on the scoreboard in a 23-3 triumph.

Gallery: (3-22-2025) Men's lacrosse vs. Temple

After upsetting No. 2 Northeastern (Mass.) University over Spring Break in Connecticut and rising to No. 3 in this week's MCLA Top 20 Poll, Liberty University's men's lacrosse team was able to enjoy the spring weather conditions at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields for Saturday's ALC North Division opener against Temple (Pa.) University, a 23-3 trouncing.

"The message to our guys was that we had to be consistent in who we are and what we do," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "It doesn't matter if it's Temple or whoever it is. Today, specifically, we were hopeful and optimistic we were going to be able to control the pace and the play, and we were able to do that."

Liberty (7-1) got goals from 16 different players, including senior defenders Conor Guiltinan and Ben Chun, the first of his career, as well as graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett, who also won 17 of 19 draws and picked up 12 ground balls. Multiple goal-scorers included graduate attackmen Braden Landry (two goals, six assists, three ground balls) and Keaton Mohs (3G, 2A), senior middies Will Geary (3G) and Ryan Merback (2G), and sophomore attack Thomas Dyson (2G).

"This was a conference divisional game, so we're one step closer to earning a No. 1 seed for our playoff," McQuillan said. "The guys deserve a ton of credit for putting themselves in the position that they are, especially after starting the season with a loss against Virginia Tech. Since then, the guys have responded really well."

Single-goal scorers for the Flames included Hammett; Chun, who also forced four turnovers and picked up four ground balls; Guiltinan, who also picked up three ground balls and forced two turnovers; senior middie Shane Supek, who also won nine out of 10 faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls; junior attack Luke Branham; sophomore middies Hunter Rockhill and Harris Shook; freshman middies Parker Ackerman, Josiah Hoopman, and Ben Papendick; and sophomore long-stick middie Peyton Park, who also picked up two ground balls and forced two turnovers.

"Sometimes, it's tough when games get like that to continue to be disciplined," McQuillan said. "We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers, but for the most part, I was pleased with how they controlled the game and controlled their emotions and tried to be as disciplined as possible even though the game itself wasn't necessarily competitive."

"We did a lot of experimentation today," he added. "Obviously we were able to get everybody in. At the end, we even put some guys in at positions they're not as used to. That was probably the most difficult part of today's game, at least from a coaching perspective, just keeping track of what the rotations were. It was a good opportunity especially for our younger guys to get some experience and hopefully develop some additional confidence."

Sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal made three saves and didn't allow a goal in the first half before freshman Caden Maurer allowed Temple to end Liberty's shutout bid in the second, when he, too, made three stops.

"We almost got the shutout," Chun said. "It was a good game. We've got back-to-back games over the next three weekends. We're feeling good; the chemistry's there. We've just got to win out the rest of our games, and we'll be set up good for nationals."

Liberty will hold its first Military Appreciation Game on Friday against Texas A&M, with a Color Guard to be on hand for the National Anthem before the 7 p.m. opening faceoff back at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. The Flames will wear special military-themed jerseys that will be auctioned off afterwards to help support the team's mission opportunities in upcoming years.

"Liberty in general does a great job with military appreciation in everything the university does so it's our opportunity to say thanks and to show appreciation for what (Assistant) Coach (Brandon) Butler and his sacrifice and what his service means to us," McQuillan said, referring to the former West Point men's lacrosse middie who served in the U.S. Army from 2011-22.

After hosting the Aggies (1-5), the Flames will return to ALC North play with a 1 p.m. clash with Pittsburgh (4-1) on Sunday, March 30, also at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"Texas A&M is a team we have never played before, just like Texas who we played a couple weeks ago, so there's a little bit of newness," McQuillan said. "We'll kind of turn the page on Temple here and start focusing our attention on (Texas) A&M. We're in a great position right now. We control our own destiny."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator