The Liberty Men’s Lacrosse team defeated the No. 3 seed University of South Carolina (USC) 11-7, Feb. 28 at the Liberty Lacrosse field.
USC scored 53 seconds into the first quarter. Senior attacker Luke Branham responded with a Liberty goal a minute later to tie the score 1-1. USC regained the lead with another goal, closing out the first quarter 2-1.
Junior attacker Easton Cahill found the back of the net in the second quarter, which allowed the Flames to tie the score again.
Sophomore midfielders William Morris and Josiah Hoopman each notched a goal to extend Liberty’s lead 4-2.
The Gamecocks responded with another goal but could not level the score as junior goalkeeper Ian Carvajal fought USC from finding the back of the net.
“Based on the way he was playing, there was no reason to (substitute Carvajal), we’ll take a look at the game as a whole, but I guess from our perspective on the sideline, he was just so important to our success tonight,” Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said.
Cahill landed the final goal of the second quarter, ending the first half with Liberty in the lead 5-3.
Following an early USC goal in the third quarter, junior midfielder Harris Shook launched the ball into the net, allowing the Flames to quickly reestablish their two-point lead, 6-4.
With eight minutes left, junior midfielder Peyton Park capitalized on a setup from Morris.
Cahill tallied another goal for the Flames, pushing the lead to 8-4.
“With these guys and how we’ve been practicing and grinding, it seems like there’s no drop off, and we’re all so tight, and we trust each other, and we’ve been executing our plans, and we’ve been planning for each team, which has been amazing,” Carvajal said.
Liberty continued its momentum going into the final quarter, when Branham received a pass from Hoopman, which turned into Liberty’s ninth tally of the night.
USC then scored back-to-back goals, closing the gap to 9-6. Hoopman answered with his second goal of the game, extending Liberty’s lead 10-6.
USC added one more marker before Liberty closed the scoring as sophomore midfielder Parker Ackerman clinched the final point before the clock expired, giving Liberty an 11-7 victory.
“I love playing South Carolina. I told them that in the huddle that they’re probably my favorite team to play every year outside of our ALC conference (Atlantic Lacrosse Conference) … I think we’re fortunate that we were able to get a win based on kind of how that game played itself out,” McQuillan said.
The Flames will return to the Liberty lacrosse field to face Florida State University March 8, at noon.
“We don’t have any easy games from here on out,” McQuillan said. “Our schedule kind of just continues to ramp up. So we’ll enjoy this, but we’ve got to get back to work and get ready for Florida State on Sunday.”
Stewart is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.