Hammett named MCLA Division I Player of the Week as Flames debut at No. 6 in national rankings

It was a banner weekend for Liberty University's men's lacrosse team, the reigning ALC champion which swept defending SELC champion Georgia Tech (ranked No. 11) on Friday night and Lone Star Alliance champion Texas (No. 12) on Saturday morning at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

The Flames (4-1) were awarded for their success with a No. 6 ranking in the season's first MCLA DI Coaches Poll.

Liberty ended the 2024 season ranked No. 3, ahead of No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Georgia Tech after making its second straight MCLA DI National Championship Final Four appearance, losing to eventual champion BYU, the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in the nation this week.

"(No. 6) is fair, and the good news for us is there's still a handful of teams on our schedule that are showing up in the top 20," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "We are always hoping to improve our standing, and getting into that top four is huge for seeding purposes for nationals. If we can take care of things on our end for the rest of the year, we should be in a good position, even in the driver's seat, and can control our own destiny."

For its Spring Break trip, the Flames will travel to Madison, Conn., to take on Connecticut and No. 2-ranked Northeastern (Mass.) University at Strong Field Stadium. Northeastern (6-0) has posted one-goal wins over Georgia Tech, No. 20 Colorado, and No. 22 Colorado State.

The Flames lost their home opener to Northeastern, 8-7 in overtime, in frigid conditions last season, before ousting the Huskies in the first round of the MCLA National Championships, 11-6.

"Playing a team twice out of conference in a season is somewhat rare, but we are familiar with them," McQuillan said. "They were a really young team last year and have a lot of good talent, so we anticipated Northeastern to be where they are, and we are fortunate to be able to play a team of their caliber on a Spring Break trip."

Liberty received another accolade this week when graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett, a transfer from NCAA Division I UMass, was named the MCLA Division I Warrior Player of the Week after winning 47 of 54 faceoffs and picking up 46 ground balls in the two games over the weekend.

"Our team's success this season starts at the X," McQuillan told the MCLA. "We knew that he would be able to come in this year and instantly make a difference for our program, but his dominance has impressed us. His dedication, passion, and overall grit has given us an edge every game, and his performance this past weekend is yet another example of that."

The MCLA also announced Wednesday that the Division I and II National Championships will be hosted by the River City Sportsplex, which offers 16 turf fields in Chesterfield, Va., a suburb of Richmond, for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

This year's championships will be hosted in Round Rock, Texas, for the fifth year in a row, from May 5-10.

"For us, going to Texas the last five years has been fun, but a change of scenery and a chance to be able to compete for a national championship in our home state is exciting," McQuillan said, noting that he and his staff plan to work with the MCLA to be a resource during the planning process. "It will be quite a bit more affordable, which will hopefully allow us to be able to be more aggressive in our regular season travel schedule and offer flexibility for our seniors over graduation weekend, to allow them to get back for (degree presentation) ceremonies. So, there are a lot of positives, and we will hopefully take advantage of it."

Liberty has seven seniors and three graduate students on this season's roster who may have to choose between competing in the National Championships Final Four — should the Flames make it back for the second time — and attending their Class of 2025 Commencement, scheduled for May 10-12.

"Our guys, with the level of commitment that they've made, would much rather be competing for a national championship than attending their graduation," McQuillan said.

This season's team not only has a tremendous balance of underclassmen, with eight freshmen, 10 sophomores, and eight juniors, but it also has great geographical representation. Besides seven Virginia natives, the Flames feature three players from Maryland, New York, and North Carolina, two from California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and one each from Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

"When our starting lineup was introduced for (Saturday's) Texas game, there was not a single duplicate of guys from the same state," McQuillan said, noting his early recruiting efforts were mainly focused on Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. "Now, we continue to recruit guys from all 50 states and even Canada. In terms of teams in the MCLA, we definitely have one of the more diverse rosters."

In addition to its main Select Camp in July, Liberty will host another Flames Futures recruiting showcase during the April 3-5 College For A Weekend (CFAW), when Liberty will take on No. 14 Tennessee in their annual Midnight Mayhem matchup on Friday, April 4, at 11:59 p.m. before hosting Kentucky on Sunday, April 6, at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Hammett named MCLA Division I Player of the Week as Flames debut at No. 6 in national rankings

Players Mentioned

Caleb Hammett

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