Men’s Lacrosse Jumps To First In ALC Standings With Win Over Virginia Tech

The Liberty men’s lacrosse team ended its regular season Saturday night at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields with an 11-8 win over Virginia Tech, avenging their loss to Clemson last week. The win propelled the Flames to 5-2 on the season, tied for first place in the ALC standings, while the Hokies went back to Blacksburg sitting at 3-3.

Neither team could find a way to pull away Saturday until Liberty freshman Keaton Mohs put the Flames up 4-3 in the contest. The Flames would extend their lead to 5-3 with just over 40 seconds left in the first quarter.

Liberty came out hot in the second quarter, firing in a shot from a ground ball to make the score 6-3 just over a minute into the quarter. When senior Caleb Britton lashed in a shot, the Flames suddenly had a commanding 7-3 lead. 

At this point, the Hokies woke up, with Alex Williamson and Will Giannelli scoring to cut the lead to 7-5 with 5:18 left to play in the second quarter. 

Seconds later, Giannelli added another goal, bringing the Hokies within one before Flames senior Jackson Miller found the net. The Hokies grabbed another goal before the Flames went into halftime up 8-7, with the game’s outcome still on a knife edge. 

As the second half opened, Virginia Tech did not waste time as Hunter Capestany scored a goal two minutes in to tie the game. After a few unsuccessful chances for both sides, Mohs came out from behind the net to score, putting the Flames up 9-8 with just over eight minutes to go in the third quarter. 

The game needed someone to step up, and Britton duly obliged, grabbing a hat trick with 13 minutes to play, before he picked out the right corner for his fourth goal with 5:24 left. With the Hokies unable to respond, the Flames held on for an 11-8 victory. Coach Kyle McQuillan praised Britton’s standout performance. 

“For Caleb, that was definitely his biggest game of the season so far,” McQuillan said to the Club Sports website. “It’s great to have consistency, but there’s something special about some of the best players showing up in the big games and the big moments, and we hope to have him continue to do that moving forward.”

Senior goalie Ryan Reynolds put on a show on senior night, making a season-high 18 saves. His saves kept the Flames in front on multiple occasions. 

 The Flames clinched the No. 2 seed in the inaugural ALC tournament in Lynchburg where they will face N.C. State. The tournament will kick off for the Flames on April 30.

Zac Zehnder is a Sports Reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @zaczehnder.