Liberty Finds Its First

(Photo by Lance Wendt)

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Capping off one of the most prolific runs in tournament history, No. 1 Liberty defeated No. 3 Georgia Tech, 17-12, to capture the Division I title at the 2025 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance on Saturday afternoon in Round Rock, Texas.

Liberty (19-1) concludes its season with 19-straight victories and sets the record for most goals in a tournament with 73, eclipsing the mark set by Simon Fraser (71) in 1999. This is the Flames first-ever MCLA title.

BOX SCORE

Georgia Tech (15-5) looked in control of the game early as Brooks Baro opened the scoring with a saucy behind-the-back marker with Andrew Belli adding a re-dodge goal for a 2-1 lead with 9:23 in the first quarter.

Then Liberty took over. Kason Brehm took a perfect feed from Keaton Mohs on the backend of a break to tie the game before Caleb Hammett gobbled up the draw and went the distance for a 3-2 Flames lead with 35 ticks left in the first.

Goals by Luke Campbell and Will Geary less than a minute part early in the second quarter ballooned the lead to 5-2. Ty Broughton went coast-to-coast on a clear to expand the lead to 6-2 with 6:57 left in the half. Baro pulled one back 30 seconds later on a bull-run to the cage, but Braden Landry had a rebound off an Owen Armentrout save drop right into his stick to push the margin back to four, 7-3. The teams would trade goals in the final three minutes of the half to send the Flames into the break, 8-4.

And it would be a break. Almost simultaneous with the first half whistle was a thunderstorm cell moving into the Round Rock area that delayed the start of the second half for over an hour.

Liberty came out of the hiatus hoping to put the contest away on Braden Landry’s third of five goals to make it 9-4, but the Ramblin’ Wreck made one last run. Over a span of four minutes – including goals within 23 seconds by Michael Grosso and Joseph Rose – the Jackets struck for four markers to bring them within one, 9-8.

Just as Tech was hoping to tie the score, Mohs handed out dimes to Campbell and Landry to push the lead back to three, 11-8. After trading a pair of goals to open the final stanza, the Flames put the game away with three straight to give them a 16-10 lead with three minutes left that wouldn’t be threatened.

Landry’s five goals and an assist led the way for Liberty while Mohs added a goal and four apples. Ian Carvajal had 12 saves in the victory. Baro finished with four goals and an assist while Quarles added a hat trick for the Yellow Jackets. Armentrout was credited with eight saves.