Flames warm up after cold start, fend off Wolfpack in season opener, 18-11

Saturday, February 7

Lynchburg, VA

6:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

NC State University

Sophomore middie Josiah Hoopman netted six goals to account for one-third of the Flames' scoring in Saturday's season opener against North Carolina State at the snow-enclosed Liberty Lacrosse Field. (Photo by Anna Wheat)

Flames warm up after cold start, fend off Wolfpack in season opener, 18-11

2/8/2026 12:25:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Liberty netted 10 goals in the third quarter and stretched its winning streak to 20 games, starting with a win at NC State last February.

Playing its season opener in frigid conditions on a field surrounded and enclosed by piles of snow, Liberty University's reigning MCLA Division I national champion men's lacrosse team picked up where it left off last May in Round Rock, Texas, Saturday night at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields with an 18-11 victory over Atlantic Lacrosse Conference rival North Carolina State.

"I don't know if it was the coldest game we've ever played in. It was definitely up there, but it was still fun," Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "It's early in the season, but I feel really good about the way the guys responded and the fact that they didn't let a bad start of a cold night get the best of them."

Josiah Hoopman enjoyed a breakout game with six goals, fellow sophomore midfielder Will Morris netted a hat trick with three goals, and senior attack and top returning scorer Luke Branham contributed two goals and three assists, and junior middie Easton Cahill two goals to pace the attack.

"Josiah Hoopman was really the big difference for us in terms of getting the momentum and some motivation back in our corner," McQuillan said. "He's been a really, really, really good player for us in the shadows, and this is a season he's really going to be able to step up … and start making a mark in the MCLA as a problem for a lot of teams."

Junior goalie Ian Carvajal made eight saves and allowed six goals (57 percent) to lead the Flames trio of netminders. Senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek was successful on 12 of his 19 faceoffs, and freshman FOS Chester Kim won eight of his 12 to give Liberty a comfortable advantage in time of possession.

"We have a lot of motivated guys on the team, a lot of freshmen that are hungry to get out there and prove themselves and get their spots in the first game of the season with the depth chart fluctuating," Hoopman said. "We lost some key players, so the weight load is getting balanced between several guys, but it's a good opportunity for younger guys to step up and for returning players to keep doing what we were doing last year."

Liberty only led 6-5 after the first half before Hoopman started the second-half scoring with a running finish down right side of the box, and the Wolfpack responded to pull within 7-6 at the 11:14 mark of the third quarter.

"Unfortunately, we had a really slow start, and to their credit, NC State did a good job capitalizing on our mistakes," McQuillan said.

Goals by Morris and junior middie Hunter Rockhill on a spectacular sidearmed shot from the right side of the box into the top-left corner of the cage extended Liberty's lead to 10-6 midway through the third quarter. Then, Morris scored again on a bounce shot as he drove into the right crease before a goal by Ezra Anderson off an assist from Branham at the 5:26 mark pushed the advantage to 12-6.

"We had to get settled in offensively and defensively, but we kind of hit our stride in that second half, started getting the ball around and getting deeper in our offensive sets," Hoopman said. "Obviously, the temperatures were probably getting to us, but we got warmed up after running around, getting the sticks warm and starting to get into our flow of offense that we got into late last year."

Branham helped set up junior middie Harris Shook with tic-tac-toe passing before Shook finished in the left crease. Then, at the 1:02 mark, Hoopman crashed into NC State middie Cayne Duranceau at the top of the box to gain separation before firing a rocket from 30 feet out into the upper netting. He scored again seconds later on a half-field counterattack before freshman long-stick midfielder Derek Faye received a cross-field pass and rifled an overhand shot from the top of the box for the 10th goal of the quarter, extending the advantage to 16-6.

With 8:55 to go in the fourth, freshman attack Brandon Isaacs finished from close range to push the lead to 18-8 before the Wolfpack netted the last three goals.

Liberty will travel to play the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for the first time next Sunday at 3 p.m.

"It's going to be a grind with a long season and a lot of really good opponents," McQuillan said. "We've got a new team and a new identity, and we're going to likely have a lot of success. I'm really excited to play games, finally, and these guys are getting an opportunity to step into positions. Tonight was an example of them rising to the occasion."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer