Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Liberty senior Ian Carvajal (21) makes a save of a Jamaican player's diving shot from point-blank range during Sunday's fifth-place game at the Pan-American Sixes Lacrosse Championships in Oshawa, Ontario. (Photos by Vanessa Vee)
Carvajal anchors defense for first Brazilian sixes lacrosse team to qualify for World Championships
10/9/2026 4:25:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
The three-year starting goalie for Liberty has taken his talent to the next level for a team that could qualify for the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.
"It's kind of crazy," said Carvajal, who was born in Florida but has dual citizenship as his mom is from Brazil. "While I was there with Liberty for the mission trip, we were just there to serve and hang out and do what we could for the tournament as a whole. Through networking, I communicated with the head organizer for Brazil, and that's when she recruited me to play for them."
Since his dad is from Colombia, Carvajal was actually wearing a Colombia jersey for part of the time the Flames were in Puerto Rico.
"Colombia and Brazil have a bit of a rivalry, so they were chirping back and forth until he eventually switched sides," Liberty men's lacrosse Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "I was impressed with the Brazilian team down in Puerto Rico, and for him to make that squad and be able to represent Brazil is pretty cool."
"Similar to Puerto Rico, and all of the teams that were down there (last December), Brazil is a newer program," he added. "It's fun when guys have the opportunity to not only play the sport post-college, but to represent their country in doing it."
Carvajal is a senior at Liberty completing his B.S. in Business Administration residentially but has opted not to play for the Flames this season.
"I kept training after last spring, my last season at Liberty," Carvajal said. "But the training camps were brutal. The first was one was at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire in early July. The next one was in Philadelphia at Haverford (College) in early August. Then, in the first week of September, we were in Connecticut. They were all preparation for this tournament."
"Since I'm newer to the program, this is my first tournament with them, and it happens to be the biggest one," he added.
It served as the Pan-American qualifier for the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships scheduled for next Oct. 4-10 in Colorado Springs, with the top five teams out of eight represented advancing.
The Brazilian team dropped its first two games to host Team Canada — the No. 1-ranked team in the world that would lose in the last 1.5 seconds of its final against Team USA, 12-11 — by a 29-10 count and to a Haudenosaunee team composed of Native American players, 19-13. It then dominated Mexico, 26-8, before narrowly surviving and advancing past Jamaica in the fifth-place game, 17-15, to secure the last World Championships bid.
"This is so big for our program," he added. "Brazil lacrosse wasn't a thing until four years ago. It's so new, and we're growing so much. We're becoming very competent and sticking together as a family. This year we have really developed, grown, and grinded with our program, and it's really nice to see. We have a huge opportunity here, and I'm blessed to be a part of it. We are going to keep competing. and we are going to be a huge threat to these other countries."
Puerto Rico earned the fourth qualifying bid despite losing its third-place game to Haudenosaunee, 15-13, after beating Jamaica, 20-12, losing to Team USA, 25-10, and defeating Chile, 21-16.
Held every two years, the World Championships will feature 16 men's national teams and serve as the primary qualifier the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where sixes lacrosse will make its debut on the Olympic stage from July 24-29.
"The sixes format and how it's going to be presented at the next Olympics is an effort to get more countries engaged in the sport of lacrosse," McQuillan said. "I have never coached any level other than college lacrosse. (Sixes) uses a lot of the same equipment, and it feels and looks like field lacrosse, but it's a very different game, and a different kind of player excels in the sixes game than the field version, goalies included."
Going from field lacrosse to sixes, played on a smaller field with near constant fast-break action, has been an adjustment for Carvajal.
"It is a significantly smaller field, and all the shots are from way closer and in tight, a lot of them well within 10 yards, making it very difficult to stop," he said, noting there are no long-stick defenders. "The five field players all have the same sized stick. For a goalie to have a 50-percent save percentage in sixes lacrosse is way more impressive (than in the 10-on-10 game)."
Players can't turn the ball back over the midline once they gain possession and go on attack, and when one team scores a goal, the goalie picks the ball up and clears it, rather than setting up another faceoff.
"It is kind of like basketball, very fast, quick play where you're always trying to get into a settled offense," Carvajal said.
"It's a different format to get used to, but Ian enjoys that faster pace," McQuillan added. "He was always a goalie that fed off of momentum and those positive outcomes. He never wanted to just be standing around. Playing goalie in lacrosse is hard enough, but in the sixes format, it is even harder. It is very fast paced, with a lot of goals scored. The pace of the game is completely different after goals. You've got to get over it really quick, get the ball out, and start going in the opposite direction. (For) Ian, with his athleticism, all the benefits he brought to our program will serve him well. It is a sport that's growing, and for him to be able to continue to play the sport that he loves, it will provide opportunities for the future."
"That will be a busy weekend with it being Halloween and Homecoming," McQuillan said, noting the team will host an Alumni golf tournament and put on an alumni breakfast and tailgate for the Flames Football game against FIU, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. at Williams Stadium.
The Flames will shift their practices to a box lacrosse format — which is more similar to sixes than field lacrosse — starting in November and capped by an intrasquad tournament between four teams on the Liberty Multipurpose Center's indoor fields.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's LacrosseTuesday, September 15
Wednesday, July 29
Thursday, May 07
Friday, April 17