Flames take sting out of Yellow Jackets, celebrate first MCLA Division I championship

Saturday, May 10

Round Rock, TX

2:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Georgia Tech

Flames junior attack Luke Branham (22) celebrates a goal by junior defensive middie Ty Broughton (19), flanked by graduate attackmen Keaton Mohs (8) and Braden Landry. (Photos by Andrew Musser)

Flames take sting out of Yellow Jackets, celebrate first MCLA Division I championship

5/10/2025 9:49:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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No. 1-ranked Liberty (19-1) extended its program-record win streak to 19 games and eclipsed the all-time tournament scoring mark with 73 goals in four games.

Gallery: (5-10-2025) Men's lacrosse championship game vs. GT

Liberty University's No. 1-ranked men's lacrosse team opened an 8-4 halftime lead on No. 3 Georgia Tech in Saturday's MCLA Division I National Championship final before waiting out a 1 hour and 45-minute lightning delay and swatting the pesky Yellow Jackets, 17-12.

The Flames (19-1) raised their first national championship trophy on their third consecutive trip to the Final Four at the Round Rock (Texas) Multipurpose Complex. They finished the season on a program-record 19-game winning streak and eclipsed by two goals the all-time tournament scoring record, set by Simon Fraser in 1999 at 71 in four games.

"The way these guys were playing, that doesn't surprise me," Liberty 15th-year Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said after the Flames outscored opponents, 73-41, winning by an average margin of eight goals. "This is a special day for Liberty Lacrosse. Our goal was to win it not just for these guys, but all of the teams that came before us."

McQuillan helped the Flames rise from the ashes 20 years after a head-on collision on a spring break road trip through Alabama left Head Coach John Westfall and his two young sons and several players with extensive injuries and led the program to suspend play for five seasons.

Besides the wives of McQuillan and some of his assistant coaches who surprised them by flying out from Lynchburg, Va., to see the final, Westfall made the trip from Phoenix.

"To have him here and come full circle, I am super happy he made the trip, and to re-establish connections with a lot of former players from our program," said McQuillan, who was a member of the team that experienced devastating tragedy.

He and his coaching staff has steadily transformed the program into one that has taken baby steps and giant leaps forward to reach Saturday's triumphant pinnacle of success.

"If we were like the phoenix rising from the ashes, it was a slow and steady climb over a 15-year period," McQuillan said. "The last 10-plus years has just been building from one season to next. The last two years, we'd made it to the semifinals at the national tournament and hit a bit of a wall, so for us to break past that in the semifinal and in the same year win a national championship (is monumental)."

"This was our fifth year coming to Texas, so to be able to leave this state with a national championship is great," he added, noting the national tournament will move to Richmond, Va., next spring. "It is great that it'll be in our back yard and awesome that we were able to get it done here this year."

Graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett picks up a ground ball in Saturday's MCLA DI National Championships win over Georgia Tech.

Graduate faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett gave the Flames a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish with an unassisted score off a winning draw in the final 35 seconds of the first quarter. But he was not as dominant as he has been all season and even at nationals, as Georgia Tech won 19 of 32 faceoffs for the game.

After the lightning delay, graduate attack Braden Landry, who scored a game-high five goals to go with his one assist, received an entry pass from sophomore midfielder Hunter Rockhill (1G, 2A) near the right crease and finished from point-blank range despite taking a hit, padding the Flames' lead to 9-4 at the 14:20 mark.

Georgia Tech (15-5) answered on Andrew Belli's ground-ball pickup in traffic on the defensive end and full-field clear and running bounce shot that beat Liberty sophomore goalie Ian Carvajal (12 saves), trimming the deficit to 9-5 with 10:28 left in the third quarter.

With the Yellow Jackets on a man advantage, attackman Pierce Quarles stung Liberty with a submarine perimeter shot from the right side of the box into the upper-left corner of the cage. Back-to-back goals in the next minute of action — by Brooks Baro into the top-right corner off Michael Grasso's assist from behind the cage and Joseph Rose after picking up a loose ball in front — pulled Georgia Tech within 9-8.

"We had some momentum going into halftime, and to come out and keep pace in the third quarter after the delay was more difficult," McQuillan said. "Kudos to Georgia Tech for coming out and keeping it close and continuing to fight and not let us gain control until the very end."

Junior middie Luke Campbell (2G) responded for Liberty, taking a fantastic feed from graduate attack Keaton Mohs (1G, 4A) from behind the left side of the cage and ripping a sharp-angled shot inside the near post at the 4:18 mark. Less than a minute and a half later, Mohs assisted Landry from behind the right post as he cut in front for a catch-and-release finish in deep.

"Landry exemplifies the type of team we were this season," McQuillan said. "We were daring teams to try to take Keaton (Mohs) out of the game, because we knew that other guys could step up. Georgia Tech had some good systems in place to slow us down and prevent us from having success in ways we typically do. But we have the deepest team in the MCLA, with guys up and down the roster capable of scoring."

The Yellow Jackets came out buzzing to start the fourth quarter, winning the faceoff before Baro recovered the putback of his own shot off the right pipe and fired it inside the right post. Junior attack Branham gave the Flames some breathing room by eluding a defender as he drove from left to right across the box and finishing a left-handed shot past Georgia Tech goalie Owen Armentrout for a 12-9 advantage at the 11:55 mark.
Belli then assisted Aaron Piszczek who rifled an overhand shot from the top of the box into the top-left corner of the cage, bringing the Yellow Jackets back within two goals.

But as he had in Thursday's semifinal win over BYU, Liberty senior defender Conor Guiltinan caused a critical turnover, knocking the stick out of the hands of a Georgia Tech player as he crossed the midfield, springing the ball loose. The Flames capitalized on a phenomenal shot from the top of the box by sophomore middie Easton Cahill that ricocheted off the left and right pipes before landing in the back of the net for a 13-10 advantage with 6:11 to play.

"Easton is one of those guys that is so clutch," McQuillan said. "He scores very impactful goals at very important moments, and that goal late in the game was the backbreaker."

Branham cleaned up the rebound of Mohs' blocked shot on a quick counterattack after another turnover just outside the goalie's circle, extending Liberty's lead to 14-10. Landry then delivered the dagger, receiving a pass from behind the net in the right slot and pump-faking to shed a defender before firing a taser of a shot inside the lower-right post.

Freshman middie Josiah Hoopman then bounced in an open shot in the middle after a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from senior middie Will Geary to Landry, who spotted Hoopman with a pass through a seam in the defense.

Georgia Tech answered with a point-blank finish on the other end before Mohs capped the scoring for the Flames with his first goal of the game, emerging from behind the cage to fire a turnaround into the open net with the Yellow Jackets applying a 10-man ride.

Mohs, who became the all-time MCLA Division I scoring leader in Tuesday's quarterfinal rout of Arizona State, finished the tournament with 35 points in four games and 362 for his five-year career.

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