Tigers ambush Flames in first quarter of fourth consecutive defeat

Saturday, March 21

Knoxville, TN

12:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Auburn University

Sophomore midfielder Will Morris won 14 of 29 faceoffs to help the Flames stay even with the Tigers over the final three quarters. (Photo by Anna Wheat)

Tigers ambush Flames in first quarter of fourth consecutive defeat

3/21/2026 5:11:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Auburn opened an early 8-0 lead on Liberty in the finale of an 0-3 spring break showcase at Tennessee.

A day after allowing No. 2 BYU to outscore it 10-2 in the second quarter of a 25-12 blowout, Liberty University's No. 7-ranked men's lacrosse team let Auburn open a commanding 8-0 advantage after the first quarter of Saturday's final game of a showcase at the University of Tennessee. That was the exact margin of the Flames' 22-14 setback against the unranked Tigers (5-4).

"Putting ourselves in that position early on wasn't part of the game plan," Flames Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "Our performance for four quarters didn't meet our expectations. In all three games this week, we have had an implosion where we put ourselves behind the 8 ball. It is exhausting and infuriating playing from behind, and it doesn't set us up for success. We keep hurting ourselves, making mistakes and giving them opportunities to create separation (by scoring) in flurries."

The lobsided loss was the fourth in a row for the reigning MCLA Division I national champion Flames (4-4), the longest such slump in the program's history since McQuillan — a former player in the mid-2000s — helped revive it in 2011.

"This is our 16th season since then, and I don't remember a slide or a skid like this," he said. "The losses have come against four of the best teams on our schedule, though Auburn is not as good as the other three. But losing like this is new territory for us, and it's not acceptable. Either we have to adjust and make improvements and trend toward the positive, or we will continue this slide."

Auburn seized an early 3-0 lead by ripping two perimeter shots from the top and left side of the box past Flames junior goalie Ian Carvajal (10 saves) before potting a putback into the top-left corner of the cage on its next possession.

The Tigers stretched their advantage to 5-0 after winning the two ensuing faceoffs and maintaining possession after Carvajal saved a couple high-percentage driving shots. On both occasions, they reset their attack before finishing second chances, prompting a Liberty timeout.

The Flames — who were outscored 62-36 in three games this week — couldn't stop the bleeding as two more faceoffs and two more second-chance scores from close range extended Auburn's edge to 7-0.

"We just weren't getting enough possessions for our offense to stay in these games," McQuillan said. "We definitely allowed way too many goals in all three games. We've got a good offense, but on defense, we need a fix, and it's hard to win without that."

Liberty turned the tide slightly in the second quarter when senior attack Luke Branham (3 goals, 2 assists) helped spark the Flames who matched the Tigers in scoring to leave the halftime deficit at 13-5.

Midway through the third, senior captain and long-stick midfielder Brody Ashworth finished on a running shot down the right side of the box to give Liberty's offense some renewed energy. However, on the other end, after Cavajal saved a wraparound try from behind the right side of the cage, Auburn freshman attack Charlie Morrison delivered a dagger by juking around a Flames defenseman at the top-right side of the box before rifling a shot into the upper right corner of the netting, extending the advantage to 17-7.

A long-range bounce shot by sophomore middie Josiah Hoopman (team-high 5 goals) trimmed the deficit to 17-8 and prevented officials from implementing a running clock in the fourth quarter, when junior middie Hunter Rockhill started the scoring with a sidearm shot from short range in the right side of the box.

After sophomore midfielder Will Morris won the ensuing faceoff, senior middie Shane Supek set up freshman middie Jonathan Papendick with a beautiful entry pass for a catch-and-release score from point-blank range near the left crease, making it a 17-10 contest.

Morris replaced Supek as the Flames' faceoff specialist after Supek lost the first five draws, and he held his own at the X, winning 14 out of 29 attempts.

"Brody (Ashworth) played with a lot of heart, (sophomore midfielder) Parker Ackerman played extremely well on the defensive side of the ball, and Will (Morris) fought hard to give us some opportunities in the second and third quarters, but we need all 38 guys playing that way," McQuillan said.

The Flames would trim Auburn's lead to 18-12 before being outscored 4-2 by the SEC foe down the stretch.

"We kept our heads up and continued to fight through (but) it was a pretty disappointing day, and a pretty disappointing week as a whole," McQuillan said. "The message to our guys after today was that we have dug ourselves a little bit of a hole with regard to where we are with our execution, as well as our confidence and even our reputation."

He accepted responsibility for the Flames' 0-3 spring break showing.

"We've got a young team, but the talent and ability are there," McQuillan said. "Having 18 freshmen on the roster is our reality, but it's not an excuse. We recruited guys that we thought could come in and fit our system and help us win lacrosse games. We're not executing or playing to our potential. We're underperforming. We should be better than we are by now, and we're not, and it's on us."

He said as the season surpasses its midpoint, the Flames, who climbed as high as No. 3 in the MCLA Coaches Poll after upsetting No. 3 South Carolina exactly three weeks ago, are at a critical juncture if they are going to change their trajectory toward the postseason.

"We still have everything we want to accomplish as a team in front of us, and we are still very much alive in the ALC race in preparation for tournament play, but we didn't do ourselves any favors this week in terms of progressing toward a better version of ourselves," McQuillan said. "Against South Carolina, our defense looked phenomenal. Since then, something's changed. We've got to figure out what it is and get it fixed. It's not one specific thing; we've had poor play overall."

The Flames have less than a week to prepare to host ALC rival West Virginia, which is also off to a 4-4 start, in their annual Midnight Mayhem contest on Friday night.

"Opponents may look at us as a little bit of low-hanging fruit and target us because of how we've performed of late," McQuillan said. "We've reminded our guys that you don't learn much from success, but you can learn a lot from losing and failure. We have lots to learn, and the ball is in our court. It is up to us to apply it."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer