Liberty men’s ultimate salvages ninth place out of 12 teams at Oak Creek Challenge

Saturday, March 1

Thurmont, MD

9:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Oak Creek Challenge

Men's Ultimate practice Liberty Lacrosse Fields secondary

Liberty finished 4-2 over the weekend in Frederick, Md., after struggling in the wind and going 1-2 in pool play.

Liberty men’s ultimate salvages ninth place out of 12 teams at Oak Creek Challenge

3/5/2025 12:14:00 PM | Men's Ultimate

Liberty placed behind Cornell and Westchester in its pool before sweeping its competition on Day 2 to win the ninth-place consolation bracket.

This past weekend, Liberty University's men's ultimate team battled high winds during pool play on the first day of the Oak Creek Challenge in Frederick, Md.

The Flames went 1-2 to place third out of four teams in their pool, behind Cornell (N.Y., 3-0) and West Chester (Pa., 2-1), and ahead of SUNY-Albany, which finished fourth at 0-3.

"Saturday was extremely windy, with consistent gusts of 40 mph winds; it was pushing me around on the field," Liberty Head Coach Kevin Habermas said. "Sunday the wind was 15 mph, which was a lot more manageable."

"We were without one of our main handlers," Habermas said of junior Sterling Payne. "(Freshman) Micah Moore played really well this weekend, after being bumped up to the offensive line to fill in for (Payne) and serving as a handler along with (seniors) Ian Rankin and (captain) Luke Carlsen."

On Saturday, Liberty defeated SUNY-Albany, 10-7, before falling to West Chester, 7-2, and Cornell,13-2. The winds slowed considerably on Sunday, when the Flames played three more matches, winning them all. They beat SUNY-Courtland, 11-5, before edging No. 4-seeded SUNY-Buffalo, 8-7, and completing its sweep of SUNY-Albany,11-4.

Complete results are available online.

"It was a good weekend overall, minus the two games when we were playing in 40 mph winds," Habermas said. "Overall, Sunday was a good bounce-back day and went 4-2 overall, including that narrow win over SUNY Buffalo. That was a good game for us with good, patient offense."
Junior Connor Eberhart was voted by his teammates afterwards as the breakout player of the tournament.

Liberty will travel to the Smith River Sports Complex Atlantic Coast Open in Axton, Va., for a final regular-season tournament on March 22-23 before returning there for the Virginia Conference Championships on April 12-13, when they can qualify for the April 26-27 Atlantic Coast Regionals at the same site with a high enough finish.