Fueled by Midnight Mayhem fans, Flames extend win streak to 10 games, improve to 11-0 against Tennessee

Friday, April 4

Lynchburg, VA

11:59 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Tennessee

Flames graduate attack Keaton Mohs drives around Volunteers defender Jake Cosgrove early Saturday morning at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. (Photos by Ethan Smith)

Fueled by Midnight Mayhem fans, Flames extend win streak to 10 games, improve to 11-0 against Tennessee

4/5/2025 7:30:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

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Liberty outscored the Volunteers 5-2 in the third quarter and 4-2 in the fourth to pull away for an 18-10 triumph early Saturday morning at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

Gallery: (4-5-2025) Men's lacrosse vs. Tennessee

Hyped by a standing-room-only student crowd that included hundreds of College For A Weekend (CFAW) guests and a handful of incoming recruits and prospects, Liberty University's No. 2-ranked men's lacrosse team got hat tricks from four players to pull away from No. 14 Tennessee, 18-10, early Saturday morning at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

"It was a great turnout tonight against Tennessee, which was a formidable opponent and a physical team that for three quarters gave us a really good fight," Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said after the Flames (10-1) won their 10th game in a row. "That's why we do this (Midnight Mayhem) game once a year, to try to get as many people out here as we can."

Braden Landry (five goals, two assists) was complemented by fellow graduate attack Keaton Mohs (3G, 2A, three caused turnovers), who eclipsed the 300-point mark for his five-year career with the Flames.

"He's the second player in our history (and) there have only been 13 players in the history of the MCLA to be able to do that, so it was a huge moment for him, a huge moment for Liberty Lacrosse," McQuillan said. "It's a safe guess to say at least a third of Keaton's 300 points are assists and at least 75 percent of those were probably to Braden. So they've helped each other along the way for sure and Braden's had a phenomenal career as well. Those two guys are irreplaceable."

Graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett won 23 out of 28 attempts and picked up 18 ground balls to help the Flames gain control in time of possession.

"Caleb came up huge for us," said junior middie Shane Supek, who lost his only two faceoff tries. "The (FOS) on Tennessee was good, too, but he was no match for Caleb."

Tennessee won the opening faceoff, but Flames sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal made the first of his 12 saves on the Volunteers' first shot from the top of the box.

"That was a great save to start the game," Supek said. "That set us up for the rest of the game with the momentum. The fans were great and the bench, too. The bench was awesome."

Landry received a feed from Mohs, pivoted, and ripped a shot from right side into the upper netting to extend the Flames' lead to 4-2 with 5:42 left in the first quarter. Just 45 seconds later, junior attack Luke Branham (1G, 4A) unleashed an absolute snipe from the left side into the top-left corner of cage off an assist from senior middie Ryan Merbach.

"Credit to our guys for scoring first, getting a lead, and protecting that throughout," McQuillan said. "Our guys bent but never broke, which is what you want to see, especially out of our defense."

Landry and Mohs were complemented by Supek (3G, 1A) and sophomore middie Easton Cahill (4G), who helped Liberty gain separation from the Volunteers (8-3) after they drew within 7-6 with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter.

The Flames extended their lead to 9-6 before the half when Landry stole the ball from a Tennessee player on a ride and Mohs ripped a shot into the upper netting at the 2:33 mark before freshman middie Josiah Hoopman won a 50-50 ball at midfield and Supek finished a putback of Landry's shot from point-blank range in the left crease.

"We (defeated) Tennessee in the ALC Championship game last year and they haven't forgotten that," McQuillan said. "They're a program that's on the rise. They get better and better every single year, but we're 11-0 against Tennessee since joining MCLA Division I and being able to fend off a team like that for that long is a great accomplishment."

At the start of the second half, Landry drove and sent a pass across the top of the box to Cahill for a submarine shot that beat Tennessee goalie Kyler Gornick to the lower-right corner of the cage.

Hammett won the ensuing faceoff and sophomore long-stick middie Peyton Park sparked a fast break before feeding Landry for an uppercut rip from the right side, stretching the advantage to 11-6.

The Volunteers scored back-to-back goals before Flames sophomore middie Hunter Rockhill made a leaping catch of a high pass from behind the Tennessee cage and passed it to junior middie Gabe Dymmel. He set up Cahill for a no-look, behind-the-head finish in front to put the Flames up 12-8 with 10.8 seconds left in the third quarter.

Cahill made a quick move and running shot to start the fourth-quarter scoring before the Flames cycled passes behind net and Mohs spotted Supek cutting toward the crease for a sharp-angled finish from right side, extending the edge to 14-8.

"It was fun to come out in a game and an atmosphere like this and play with the guys I love on the team," Supek said. "We pulled away at the end. We broke their will and ended up winning by a couple. Our attack was on fire."

Late in the fourth quarter, Mohs notched his milestone goal off a fast-break feed from Branham to stretch Liberty's lead to 17-10 before Landry capped the scoring with a tap-in finish of another assist from Branham.

The Flames return to the Liberty Lacrosse Field on Sunday for a 4 p.m. matchup with ALC North Region newcomer Kentucky.

"The goal from here on out is to win out," McQuillan said. "We want to win our first back-to-back ALC Championship and we want to win a national championship. We've been too close for too long, and we've got to crest that hill. We've been in the semifinal game at nationals for the last two years in a row and we've got to get to that national championship game and we're putting ourselves in position to be able do that."

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