Liberty sophomore attack Taydan Williams (center) is congratulated by senior attack Josiah Hoopman and freshman midfielder Eli Lamb after a goal in Thursday night's 15-8 comeback victory at Virginia Tech. (Photos by Andrew Musser)
Flames spurt past Hokies with 10-0 second-half onslaught
10/30/2026 3:23:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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Liberty erased an 8-5 deficit and built momentum to take into the spring by turning the tables on MCLA Division I runner-up Virginia Tech on its home turf.
Trailing by three goals midway through the third quarter, Liberty University's men's lacrosse team ended Thursday night's fall semester preseason finale at Atlantic Lacrosse Conference rival and reigning MCLA Division I National Championship runner-up Virginia Tech on a 10-0 scoring spree to emerge with a stunning 15-8 triumph in Blacksburg, Va.
"It was a good way to end the fall season and good news to carry over into the spring semester," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "The way we ended the game was how we wanted to play for four quarters."
"I was optimistic going into it," McQuillan added, noting the Hokies led 5-4 at halftime and 8-5 early in the second half. "For the first half, it was pretty sloppy lacrosse on both sides of the ball, with a lot of turnovers and both teams trying to find their bearings. Credit to Virginia Tech for capitalizing on more of their opportunities early."
He said it took a while, but the Flames finally righted their ship in the second half, outscoring the Hokies 7-3 in the third quarter and 4-0 in the fourth.
"The message to the guys at halftime was we knew we played pretty poorly in that first half, and needed to make some significant changes," McQuillan said. "They lacked a little composure and were getting pushed around on the field. Poor decision-making led to a lot of turnovers. But once we started making our move a weight was lifted. They started relaxing and playing with a lot more confidence. The last quarter, specifically, was a very different style and much closer to the brand of lacrosse we want to carry into the season."
While it struggled to establish its set offense, Liberty capitalized on its fast-break opportunities repeatedly throughout the 10-0 run, showcasing its conditioning.
"What broke the game open for us was ability to win ground ball battles and score goals on transition, with the majority coming on fast breaks from the defensive to the offensive side of the field," McQuillan said. "Our commitment to the 10-man ride and creating the turnovers in transition really tilted the game in our favor."
He sees some similarities between Virginia Tech and last year's Liberty squad as it transitioned from its 2025 MCLA National Championship season. The Hokies eliminated the Flames in the semifinals of the 2026 ALC tournament, 13-12, and went on to finish as national runner-up for the second time in four seasons with a 16-13 setback to six-time national champion BYU.
"They had a pretty fantastic season last year, and they are a very different-looking team after they lost a lot of guys to graduation," McQuillan said, noting Thursday night's outcome is not necessarily indicative of how the March 5 rematch at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields will go. "That's how we felt going into last season, and this year, we've got just as many new guys as last year. They had some injuries and they've got a lot of guys coming back that are going to put themselves in strong position to contend for another (ALC title and national tournament run) this spring."
Liberty made the most of its opportunities to showcase its depth against Virginia Tech.
"We usually cap roster at 40 but had a roster of 44 (Thursday) night. That gave us the opportunity to consistently run four midfield lines from start to finish," McQuillan said. "We color-code our lines and usually have a red line, white line, and blue line. Tonight, we were able to cycle through all of those lines and to add a fourth black line for the first time."
The Flames only used two lines with three attackmen, but benefited from the return of junior Branson Isaacs, who had been sidelined by injury for much of the fall semester and made an auspicious debut with a team-high four goals.
"It really helped having him in the lineup tonight, working with (senior attack) Josiah Hoopman (3 goals, 3 assists) and left-handed (sophomore) attack Taydan Williams (3 goals, 3 ground balls)," McQuillan said. Williams celebrates one of his three goals with freshman midfielder Eli Lamb in the second half of Thursday night's game at Virginia Tech.
The Flames were without injured senior goalie Sam Hoffman. Jake Hanna, a junior who missed much of his sophomore season with an injury, started in his place, making 10 saves and allowing all eight of the Hokies' goals before sustaining a minor injury. He was replaced by freshman Mateo Lopez, who made two big saves against the Hokies and combined with Carter Vaughn to shut the Hokies down for the final 20 minutes.
Sophomore defender Derek Fay led the Flames with six ground-ball pickups, complemented by four from sophomore defensive middie Isaiah Bainbridge and three from senior long-stick midfielder Peyton Park, junior middie Parker Ackerman, and sophomore LSM Noah Maclary.
Freshman faceoff specialist Cheston Kim won 12 out of 22 draws and sophomore Jeremy Marley won all three of his attempts.
"It was a battle of attrition, and our physicality, our conditioning started to shine late in the third quarter and the start of the fourth," McQuillan said. "We spent a lot of time in the gym this semester, and while we didn't do a great job of running our formations, our offense, our success had more to do with being athletic, having more left in the tank, and winning ground-ball battles, which comes down to strength and conditioning."
He said the game left plenty of room for refining execution of Liberty's systems.
"There are a lot of things we still need to improve on, including limiting our unforced turnovers," McQuillan said. "Consistency was definitely something we lacked, and our offense was capable of much more. On the positive side, to end the fall season with a win against a formidable opponent, finishing the game by taking the momentum and not letting Virginia Tech take it back, was good for building confidence."
He said the fall semester schedule ranked among the most challenging in program history.
"It has been the most competitive fall season I can remember," McQuillan said. "For a very young team with 18 freshmen, playing teams like Roanoke College and Hampden-Sydney and Catawba College was great preparation for our game (against Virginia Tech). Hopefully, our freshmen have a much better sense of who they are and what it takes to compete at the college level against bigger, faster opponents."
The Flames will continue their weight training and conditioning schedule as they shift gears to competing in an intra-squad box lacrosse tournament in the Liberty Multipurpose Center leading into Thanksgiving Break.
