Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Sunday, March 29
Lynchburg, VA
3:00 PM
Liberty University Club Sports
vs
Clemson University
Senior middie Kaeden Kuch clears the ball out of the defensive zone under pursuit from two Tigers. (Photos by Ethan Smith)
Flames can’t catch Tigers by the tail twice in 17-12 Senior Day setback
3/29/2026 9:55:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Liberty overcame an early 4-0 deficit, but had no answer for Clemson’s 5-0 second-half flurry as the Flames lost for the fifth time in six games.
For the seven graduating players on Liberty University's men's lacrosse team, the season after capturing the first MCLA Division I National Championship in program history has not gone according to plan.
On a spectacular Sunday afternoon for celebrating Senior Day at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields, the No. 14-ranked Flames (5-5) lost for the fifth time in their last six games, a 17-12 setback against No. 10 ALC rival Clemson University.
The Tigers (8-2) pounced on Liberty (5-5) early, opening a 4-0 advantage capped by a rare deflection finish when senior attack Aidan McNulty tipped freshman defensive middie Andrew Forman's shot from the top of the box past senior goalie Ian Carvajal into the back of the net.
The Flames had opened a 4-0 lead on West Virginia and rode it to a 13-8 triumph to snap an unprecedented four-game losing streak in Saturday's early-morning Midnight Mayhem matchup. With the tables turned, Liberty erased the four-goal deficit and seized a 6-5 advantage by the end of the first quarter, capped by senior attack Luke Branham's diving finish into the left crease with 56.9 seconds to play.
Flames freshman attack Taydan Williams had stopped the bleeding by ripping a bounce shot past Clemson goalie Emerson Smith with 10:23 to go in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Liberty scored out of its set offense when sophomore midfielder Will Morris received a feed in the right side of the box and finished with a driving shot at the 9:35 mark.
On the Flames' next possession, Branham set up Williams for a side-armed shot from the right side of the box that made it a one-goal game with 7:57 to play in the first before Branham fought through pressure at midfield and sent a long assist to junior long-stick middie Graham Lilley open in the right side of the box for a tying score with 7:24 left.
"It was a good response by our guys in the first quarter, but anytime you've got to dig yourself out of a hole early and then again late, that's not a good spot to be in," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "Lacrosse is a game of momentum swings and kind of riding that momentum, but you can't ride momentum for four quarters, and we had to use a lot of it to just get back into the game early."
In addition to his three goals and two assists — matching freshman attack Brandon Isaacs (3G) and sophomore middie Josiah Hoopman (2A) and senior middle Hunter Rockhill (2A) for team highs — Branham was called for three of the Flames' five penalties in the contest.
"Especially in the first half, we just could not get out of the (penalty) box," McQuillan said. "We made way too many mistakes and gave Clemson way too many opportunities to be able to get the win today. Credit to them for capitalizing on it. We're just making this really hard on ourselves. We're still in the driver's seat for postseason play, but we're just shooting ourselves in the foot."
Senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek won 17 out of 31 draws and Carvajal made 15 saves, nearly 50 percent, but the Flames were unable to take advantage of enough of those opportunities and second chances.
"Shane battled well at the faceoff dot, Ian played well in goal," McQuillan said. "Really what it came down to was we made our defense play too much defense, and when the offense had opportunities, we just did not capitalize. There were long stretches of the game where we just didn't put the ball in the net."
The Tigers, who were still reeling from a 20-5 loss at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Friday night, stayed within striking range and reclaimed the lead for good at 10-9 on a shot by senior attack Landon Snyder with 27.6 seconds left in the first half. Then in the third, the Tigers outscored the Flames 6-1 to extend their advantage to 16-10.
"It's pretty hard coming back from two different deficits like that," said Williams, one of 18 freshmen on the roster. "We have a bunch of younger guys like me who have to step up."
"Clemson just continued to be much more consistent than we were from start to finish," McQuillan added. "They had some goals that were gifted to them by us making mistakes, but they also had a lot of good shooting from the outside, where they made us pay on more of them than we wanted to."
As much as the Flames' defense has been shown vulnerable over the last six games, their attack has sputtered at times.
"We have quarters or long stretches where we go into cruise control, and we just kind of turn the lights off, and it's tough to win games when we do that," McQuillan said. "In the third quarter, we scored one goal, and in the second half, we scored three points. It's just unacceptable, especially from the offense that we have, the personnel we have, just the talent that we have on the offensive side of the ball."
The going will get tougher for the Flames this week, when they travel to Virginia Tech (7-1) for what traditionally determined the ALC regular-season champion.
"We're just going to have to take this one on the chin with a short turnaround and prepare ourselves for a very good Virginia Tech team," McQuillan said. "Obviously, Virginia Tech is having a fantastic season and we're going to have our hands full on Thursday."
"We're trying to push through it here at the end," Williams added. "Virginia Tech's going to be a really big one for us, and then JMU (next Sunday in Harrisonburg, Va.). We've just got to work through some of our differences. It's mostly communication and playing together as a team."
Besides Branham, Carvajal, Rockhill, and Supek, the Flames honored graduate middie Ezra Anderson, injured attack Easton Cahill, and defenders Brody Ashworth and Kaeden Kuch on Senior Day.
At halftime, a special presentation was made to former Associate Head Coach Mike Zumpano, a long-stick middie for McQuillan's first three seasons at the helm who stepped down in December after serving the previous 12 seasons as defensive coordinator.
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterGallery: (3-29-2026) Men's lacrosse vs. Clemson
On a spectacular Sunday afternoon for celebrating Senior Day at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields, the No. 14-ranked Flames (5-5) lost for the fifth time in their last six games, a 17-12 setback against No. 10 ALC rival Clemson University.
The Tigers (8-2) pounced on Liberty (5-5) early, opening a 4-0 advantage capped by a rare deflection finish when senior attack Aidan McNulty tipped freshman defensive middie Andrew Forman's shot from the top of the box past senior goalie Ian Carvajal into the back of the net.
The Flames had opened a 4-0 lead on West Virginia and rode it to a 13-8 triumph to snap an unprecedented four-game losing streak in Saturday's early-morning Midnight Mayhem matchup. With the tables turned, Liberty erased the four-goal deficit and seized a 6-5 advantage by the end of the first quarter, capped by senior attack Luke Branham's diving finish into the left crease with 56.9 seconds to play.
Flames freshman attack Taydan Williams had stopped the bleeding by ripping a bounce shot past Clemson goalie Emerson Smith with 10:23 to go in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Liberty scored out of its set offense when sophomore midfielder Will Morris received a feed in the right side of the box and finished with a driving shot at the 9:35 mark.
On the Flames' next possession, Branham set up Williams for a side-armed shot from the right side of the box that made it a one-goal game with 7:57 to play in the first before Branham fought through pressure at midfield and sent a long assist to junior long-stick middie Graham Lilley open in the right side of the box for a tying score with 7:24 left.
"It was a good response by our guys in the first quarter, but anytime you've got to dig yourself out of a hole early and then again late, that's not a good spot to be in," Liberty Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. "Lacrosse is a game of momentum swings and kind of riding that momentum, but you can't ride momentum for four quarters, and we had to use a lot of it to just get back into the game early."
In addition to his three goals and two assists — matching freshman attack Brandon Isaacs (3G) and sophomore middie Josiah Hoopman (2A) and senior middle Hunter Rockhill (2A) for team highs — Branham was called for three of the Flames' five penalties in the contest.
"Especially in the first half, we just could not get out of the (penalty) box," McQuillan said. "We made way too many mistakes and gave Clemson way too many opportunities to be able to get the win today. Credit to them for capitalizing on it. We're just making this really hard on ourselves. We're still in the driver's seat for postseason play, but we're just shooting ourselves in the foot."
Senior faceoff specialist Shane Supek won 17 out of 31 draws and Carvajal made 15 saves, nearly 50 percent, but the Flames were unable to take advantage of enough of those opportunities and second chances.
"Shane battled well at the faceoff dot, Ian played well in goal," McQuillan said. "Really what it came down to was we made our defense play too much defense, and when the offense had opportunities, we just did not capitalize. There were long stretches of the game where we just didn't put the ball in the net."
The Tigers, who were still reeling from a 20-5 loss at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Friday night, stayed within striking range and reclaimed the lead for good at 10-9 on a shot by senior attack Landon Snyder with 27.6 seconds left in the first half. Then in the third, the Tigers outscored the Flames 6-1 to extend their advantage to 16-10.
"It's pretty hard coming back from two different deficits like that," said Williams, one of 18 freshmen on the roster. "We have a bunch of younger guys like me who have to step up."
"Clemson just continued to be much more consistent than we were from start to finish," McQuillan added. "They had some goals that were gifted to them by us making mistakes, but they also had a lot of good shooting from the outside, where they made us pay on more of them than we wanted to."
As much as the Flames' defense has been shown vulnerable over the last six games, their attack has sputtered at times.
"We have quarters or long stretches where we go into cruise control, and we just kind of turn the lights off, and it's tough to win games when we do that," McQuillan said. "In the third quarter, we scored one goal, and in the second half, we scored three points. It's just unacceptable, especially from the offense that we have, the personnel we have, just the talent that we have on the offensive side of the ball."
The going will get tougher for the Flames this week, when they travel to Virginia Tech (7-1) for what traditionally determined the ALC regular-season champion.
"We're just going to have to take this one on the chin with a short turnaround and prepare ourselves for a very good Virginia Tech team," McQuillan said. "Obviously, Virginia Tech is having a fantastic season and we're going to have our hands full on Thursday."
"We're trying to push through it here at the end," Williams added. "Virginia Tech's going to be a really big one for us, and then JMU (next Sunday in Harrisonburg, Va.). We've just got to work through some of our differences. It's mostly communication and playing together as a team."
Besides Branham, Carvajal, Rockhill, and Supek, the Flames honored graduate middie Ezra Anderson, injured attack Easton Cahill, and defenders Brody Ashworth and Kaeden Kuch on Senior Day.
At halftime, a special presentation was made to former Associate Head Coach Mike Zumpano, a long-stick middie for McQuillan's first three seasons at the helm who stepped down in December after serving the previous 12 seasons as defensive coordinator.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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