Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Friday, March 27
Lynchburg, VA
11:59 PM
Liberty University Club Sports
vs
West Virginia University
Flames senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek won 17 of his 20 draws in Saturday morning's 13-8 Midnight Mayhem triumph against the Mountaineers at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields. (Photos by Ethan Smith)
Men’s lacrosse starts and ends well, snapping losing skid by climbing past Mountaineers
3/28/2026 10:23:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Sparked by hat tricks from middies Hunter Rockhill and Josiah Hoopman and a dominant faceoff performance by Shane Supek,, the Flames topped WVU, 13-8, to improve to 9-1 all-time in Midnight Mayhem contests.
What's the best way to snap a four-game losing streak — the longest in program history that led to it plummeting seven spots to No. 14 in this week's MCLA Division I Coaches' Poll?
For Liberty University's men's lacrosse team, playing in the electric atmosphere generated by its 10th Midnight Mayhem game, the Flames (5-4) used a four-goal outburst in the middle of the first quarter to seize a lead on ALC rival West Virginia (4-5) that they would never relinquish. The early surge helped get them back on the winning track with a 13-8 triumph at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
"For us, the good thing is just getting a win to get back on the horse," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "We've had a tough last four games, and to get that out of our system, get back in the W column … Today was a step in the right direction. We'd have liked a bigger step, but … we're not going to look a gift horse in the mouth right now."
Sophomore midfielder Josiah Hoopman started the flurry with the first of his three goals on the night before senior attack Luke Branham doubled the advantage moments later with a behind-the-back finish in front.
"It was a good game, a strong performance by both teams," McQuillan said. "We had good energy, it was a good crowd, a fun environment. The players love it."
Freshman attack Jeff Pitcher stretched the lead to 3-0 with a running shot down the left side of the box with 5:38 to play in the first quarter before junior middie Hunter Rockhill (3 goals, 1 assist) unleashed a rocket of a shot from the right side into the top-right corner of the cage for the early 4-0 advantage.
"From an offensive perspective in terms of shooting percentage and the opportunities that he had, Hunter did a fantastic job and scored some big goals at big moments," McQuillan said.
West Virginia capitalized on the Flames' 10-man ride with 1:16 to play in the quarter when senior middie Jack Smith threaded a sharp-angled shot from the left side past junior goalie Ian Carvajal (9 saves), ending his shutout bid.
"Coming out with a 4-1 first quarter was a good start (and) we did a good job of just pacing ourselves," McQuillan said. "We would have loved to have broken away and broken the game open a little bit more. Credit to West Virginia for not allowing for that and feeding off some of the big saves that their goalie (Aidan Taffe) made. He did a lot to keep his team in it tonight."
Senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek won 17 out of his 20 faceoffs to help jumpstart the Flames' attack and junior long-stick midfielder Graham Lilley caused three turnovers to strengthen the defense.
Early in the second quarter, Branham netted his second goal of the game in similarly spectacular fashion, ripping a shot as he drove down the left side of the box to stretch the lead to 5-1.
But the Mountaineers mounted a comeback, with Smith trimming the deficit to 5-2 on another phenomenal finish. In the final minute of the first half, Liberty sophomore middie Will Morris punctuated a powerful drive into the left side of the box by muscling a shot inside the right post, extending the Flames' advantage to 6-3. WVU struck back, however and established itself as a contender when Graham Miller cut the gap to 6-4 by wrapping a behind-the-back shot from near the right post past Carvajal.
Rockhill started the second-half scoring before later sending an alley-oop pass to Hoopman, stationed near the left post, where he slammed his shot into the back of the net, stretching Liberty's lead to 10-6.
Junior middie Harris Shook padded the lead to 11-7 with a bounce shot from the top of the box before Carvajal made an excellent save of a shot by Will Letters only to cough it up right into the stick of Dominick Stingo for an uncontested point-blank putback with 13:20 to play.
The Flames killed off a minute-long man-up situation moments later before Hoopman completed his hat trick and extended the advantage to 12-8 by shedding a defender with a shifty maneuver in the left side of the box before pulling back and unleashing a shot inside the left post.
"Never at any point did we feel that we probably weren't going to win, but we weren't winning the way we wanted to," Hoopman said. "We're still connecting the dots and figuring out what we need to do."
Branham and Rockhill were denied point-blank opportunities that could have sealed the victory but WVU defender Sutton Taylor accidentally redirected a pass in front by graduate middie Ezra Anderson into the back of the net for the 13-8 final.
Liberty was playing without junior attackmen Easton Cahill and Thomas Dyson.
"We're a little banged up right now, but so is everybody at this point of the year," McQuiillan said. "We're managing. Hopefully, we can get a couple of them back by Sunday."
The Flames will honor their seniors when they host ALC foe Clemson (7-2) in their last regular-season home game on Sunday at 3 p.m. back at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
"We're excited to play some more good competition, and get a ranked win," Hoopman said.
The Tigers suffered a 20-5 setback at No. 6 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Friday.
"I think that's just going to make them more motivated to come in here on Sunday and take care of business," McQuillan said. "That will be our last home game of the year until the ALC Tournament, which if we're fortunate enough to qualify for, we'll be back here on our home field. But we've got to punch our ticket first. The goal is just to win out. That's the expectation."
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterGallery: (3-28-2026) Men's lacrosse vs. WVU
For Liberty University's men's lacrosse team, playing in the electric atmosphere generated by its 10th Midnight Mayhem game, the Flames (5-4) used a four-goal outburst in the middle of the first quarter to seize a lead on ALC rival West Virginia (4-5) that they would never relinquish. The early surge helped get them back on the winning track with a 13-8 triumph at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
"For us, the good thing is just getting a win to get back on the horse," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "We've had a tough last four games, and to get that out of our system, get back in the W column … Today was a step in the right direction. We'd have liked a bigger step, but … we're not going to look a gift horse in the mouth right now."
Sophomore midfielder Josiah Hoopman started the flurry with the first of his three goals on the night before senior attack Luke Branham doubled the advantage moments later with a behind-the-back finish in front.
"It was a good game, a strong performance by both teams," McQuillan said. "We had good energy, it was a good crowd, a fun environment. The players love it."
Freshman attack Jeff Pitcher stretched the lead to 3-0 with a running shot down the left side of the box with 5:38 to play in the first quarter before junior middie Hunter Rockhill (3 goals, 1 assist) unleashed a rocket of a shot from the right side into the top-right corner of the cage for the early 4-0 advantage.
"From an offensive perspective in terms of shooting percentage and the opportunities that he had, Hunter did a fantastic job and scored some big goals at big moments," McQuillan said.
West Virginia capitalized on the Flames' 10-man ride with 1:16 to play in the quarter when senior middie Jack Smith threaded a sharp-angled shot from the left side past junior goalie Ian Carvajal (9 saves), ending his shutout bid.
"Coming out with a 4-1 first quarter was a good start (and) we did a good job of just pacing ourselves," McQuillan said. "We would have loved to have broken away and broken the game open a little bit more. Credit to West Virginia for not allowing for that and feeding off some of the big saves that their goalie (Aidan Taffe) made. He did a lot to keep his team in it tonight."
Senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek won 17 out of his 20 faceoffs to help jumpstart the Flames' attack and junior long-stick midfielder Graham Lilley caused three turnovers to strengthen the defense.
Early in the second quarter, Branham netted his second goal of the game in similarly spectacular fashion, ripping a shot as he drove down the left side of the box to stretch the lead to 5-1.
But the Mountaineers mounted a comeback, with Smith trimming the deficit to 5-2 on another phenomenal finish. In the final minute of the first half, Liberty sophomore middie Will Morris punctuated a powerful drive into the left side of the box by muscling a shot inside the right post, extending the Flames' advantage to 6-3. WVU struck back, however and established itself as a contender when Graham Miller cut the gap to 6-4 by wrapping a behind-the-back shot from near the right post past Carvajal.
Rockhill started the second-half scoring before later sending an alley-oop pass to Hoopman, stationed near the left post, where he slammed his shot into the back of the net, stretching Liberty's lead to 10-6.
Junior middie Harris Shook padded the lead to 11-7 with a bounce shot from the top of the box before Carvajal made an excellent save of a shot by Will Letters only to cough it up right into the stick of Dominick Stingo for an uncontested point-blank putback with 13:20 to play.
The Flames killed off a minute-long man-up situation moments later before Hoopman completed his hat trick and extended the advantage to 12-8 by shedding a defender with a shifty maneuver in the left side of the box before pulling back and unleashing a shot inside the left post.
"Never at any point did we feel that we probably weren't going to win, but we weren't winning the way we wanted to," Hoopman said. "We're still connecting the dots and figuring out what we need to do."
Branham and Rockhill were denied point-blank opportunities that could have sealed the victory but WVU defender Sutton Taylor accidentally redirected a pass in front by graduate middie Ezra Anderson into the back of the net for the 13-8 final.
Liberty was playing without junior attackmen Easton Cahill and Thomas Dyson.
"We're a little banged up right now, but so is everybody at this point of the year," McQuiillan said. "We're managing. Hopefully, we can get a couple of them back by Sunday."
The Flames will honor their seniors when they host ALC foe Clemson (7-2) in their last regular-season home game on Sunday at 3 p.m. back at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.
"We're excited to play some more good competition, and get a ranked win," Hoopman said.
The Tigers suffered a 20-5 setback at No. 6 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Friday.
"I think that's just going to make them more motivated to come in here on Sunday and take care of business," McQuillan said. "That will be our last home game of the year until the ALC Tournament, which if we're fortunate enough to qualify for, we'll be back here on our home field. But we've got to punch our ticket first. The goal is just to win out. That's the expectation."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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