Hushing The Huskies: Men’s Lacrosse Scorches UConn 22-2 After Dominant Alabama Win

The Liberty men’s lacrosse team came out firing in its 22-2 victory over the University of Connecticut Huskies April 2. The Flames No. 4 ranked MCLA squad relied on the prolific performances of graduate Carter Elliot and sophomore Keaton Mohs in the offensively dominate win.

Entering the 5 p.m. matchup with the Huskies at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields, the Flames held an 8-1 record after an impressive 21-2 senior night win against Alabama. 

The team exploded into an offensive attack to start the game with six shots in the first possession. Elliot streaked across the goal and stung the top left of the net to give the Flames an early lead. Within the next three minutes, Elliot fired two more into the cage, and a ricochet off a UConn player gave the Flames a 4-0 lead.

“Offensively, it is strike first,” Head Coach Kyle McQuillan said. “We want to be the one to throw the first punch.”

Elliot added to his hat trick by stinging the near side top left corner, and Mohs pushed the Flames to a 6-0 lead with a shifty backhanded shot. The Flames fanned their offensive momentum and pushed their lead to 9-0 to enter the second quarter.

Giving the Huskies no opportunities entering the second quarter, senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Kovar intercepted a pass to set up another Elliot goal, pushing the Flames to 10-0. After a slow 10 minutes, freshman midfielder Will Geary put his second bounce shot over the head of the Huskies goalie, giving the Flames a 11-0 lead with four minutes left in
the half. 

“It was probably the most complete half that I have seen them play so far,”  McQuillan said. “I think that when we play at that level, there really isn’t a team in the country that can compete with us.”

Led by Reynolds and sophomore defender Matthew Walker, the Flames defense was dominate in the first half. They denied the Huskies with their 10-man ride and stopped them on several extra man opportunities, giving the offense the ball to go up 12. 

“We want to be the aggressors and not the ones being pushed around,” McQuillan said.

Within the first minute of the second half, senior midfielder Ryan O’Connor drained his first goal of the game, but the Huskies answered with their first. Mohs added two more in the half to tally four goals on the day, and senior face-off specialist Cole Jankowsky continued to dominate, helping give the Flames an 18-1 lead at the end of the quarter.

“Possession is one of the most important things in lacrosse,” McQuillan said. “You’re not winning a whole lot of lacrosse games if you’re not winning at the face-off dot.”

The Huskies cut into the Flames 17-point lead to start the fourth quarter as the Flames struggled to create offense. Senior attackman Cooper Branham added to his pair of assists with his second goal of the game, extending the Flames lead to 19-2. 

Elliot added two more goals to bring his game-total to seven, and Mohs added his fifth to give the Flames a 20-goal victory over the Huskies.

“It’s not about if they’re going to score, it’s about potentially trying to limit them if you’re the opposing team,” McQuillan said.

Despite their prolific games, Elliot, Mohs and the Flames had little time to celebrate the win as they traveled to take on James Madison University April 3.

“We have used the last four games to continue to develop, get better and fix a lot of stuff,” McQuillan said.

The Flames next home game will be their first Midnight Mayhem game of the season April 8. They will host the No. 1 ranked BYU Cougars at the Liberty Lacrosse Fields.

Shealy is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter