Flames put on a clinic for Kentucky in 27-6 rout of new ALC North Region rival

Sunday, April 6

Lynchburg, VA

4:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Kentucky

Braden Landry Liberty men's lacrosse vs. Kentucky

Flames sophomore midfielder Hunter Rockhill takes a running shot in front of junior attack Luke Branham. (Photos by Ted Allen)

Flames put on a clinic for Kentucky in 27-6 rout of new ALC North Region rival

4/6/2025 9:41:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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Liberty had five players net hat tricks and won 30 out of 37 faceoffs even without Caleb Hammett in the lineup.

Gallery: (4-6-2025) Men's lacrosse vs. Kentucky

Taking on Kentucky, an ALC North Region newcomer that formerly played in the NCLL, Liberty University's men's lacrosse team had its way with the Wildcats, winning 27-6 on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

The Flames (11-1) got hat tricks from five different players and notched their 11th win in a row in decisive fashion. Liberty has now outscored its past five opponents by a 111-32 margin. The Flames outscored the Wildcats (3-11) by a 9-2 margin in the first quarter and 10-2 in the second to seize a commanding 19-4 lead at the half.

"It was pretty one-sided, and a good turnaround game from Friday night," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "It was a good response and opportunity to get one step closer to a No. 1 seed in the ALC North Region playoffs. They've put themselves in the driver's seat. We're in control of our own destiny, and we have everything still ahead of us to accomplish. We're playing some of the best lacrosse that we've played all year at the right time."

Graduate attack Braden Landry paced the attack with his second straight five-goal game, adding two assists. Junior attack Luke Branham netted four goals and two assists while graduate attack Keaton Mohs (3G, 5A), junior midfielder Luke Campbell (3G), and freshman middie Gabe Dymmel (3G) also contributed hat tricks in scoring while senior middie Shane Supek distributed three assists.

"It's always harder when it's your first year in the league, but they have a lot of talent," Branham said. "They're mostly freshmen and sophomores so in the upcoming years, they'll definitely be a lot more competitive. Today, we knew our systems would beat them."

For Mohs, who became the second Flames player to eclipse the 300-point mark for his career on Friday, it was his third eight-point total in his past four games. He now is just 28 points behind the all-time scoring record of 337 points (201G, 136A) set by Assistant Coach Ryan Miller ('15), who was inducted into the Club Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.

The Flames also got single goals from sophomore attack Thomas Dyson, middies Josiah Hoopman, a freshman, and sophomores Hunter Rockhill and Harris Shook, defensive hammers Parker Ackerman, a freshman, and juniors Jayson Houck and Ty Broughton, long-stick middies Peyton Park, a sophomore, and freshman Jacob McKnight, as well as freshman defender Caleb Galecke.

"We played very unselfishly, got a lot of different guys goals and that's because we played to our offensive systems and did what we needed to do," Branham said. "It was a good day for our whole team in general to work on some things we've been struggling with."

Starting in place of graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett, Supek won 17 of 21 faceoff attempts and picked up 13 ground balls. Houck also won 13 of his 16 attempts and picked up eight ground balls while senior defender Conor Guiltinan picked up five ground balls and forced four Wildcat turnovers.

"Fortunately, Shane (Supek) and Jayson (Houck) did a great job today with Caleb (Hammett) being a little more beat up after the Midnight (Mayhem) game. I have all the confidence in the world in Shane and Jayson. They might not be as dominating as (Caleb Hammett) has been this season, but they're always good at the X. They're super good athletes and always make a good fight out of it."

Sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal made four saves and allowed four goals through three quarters before freshman replacement Caden Maurer stopped five shots and let in two goals in the fourth.

The Flames will honor their five seniors and three graduate students on Senior Night next Friday at 7 p.m. back at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields against James Madison University before concluding their regular season at West Virginia next Sunday.

"JMU is a really good team," Branham said. "They've got a ton of talent as well. They're one of those teams that keep getting better every year. I'm really excited to play them. They always love playing us. Hopefully, we'll send out the seniors strong and solidify the No. 1 seed in the ALC North."

After the trip to Morgantown, the Flames will have two weeks to prepare to defend their ALC Championship on April 26-27 at Lynchburg City Stadium.

"We're excited to go into some pretty important games to finish out the regular season and then hopefully a chance at back-to-back ALC Championships and a really high seed for the (MCLA) National Tournament as well," McQuillan said.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer