The Grand Canyon University Men's Lacrosse Team's first trip to the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division I National Championships in three years ended Monday with an opening-round loss to No. 6-seeded Liberty University, 11-8. The elimination served as the end of the Lopes' season, and sends GCU home from Round Rock, Texas with a 7-7 overall record.
Similar to the offensive onslaught the Lopes' defense endured in the first quarter of the SLC Finals match a week ago, the Liberty Flames opened the game on a run.
"We made a lot of mental errors in the first quarter," said GCU Head Coach Jeff Guy. "We made defensive errors that you cannot make against any opponent, let alone a national tournament opponent. On the offensive end, we couldn't cash in any of our good looks."
The Flames scored the first three goals of the game before a diving shot from GCU attackman Nick Whittall got the Lopes on the board. The Lopes trailed, 4-1, after the first quarter, and each team added only one goal in a defensively dominant second quarter. GCU goalie Jake Hives was the highlight for the Lopes, saving shots on four consecutive defensive possessions.
Liberty didn't let up in the third quarter. Despite GCU's Tyler Parietti putting the Lopes on the board first in the second half, the Flames went on another three-goal run and widened their lead. A Liberty penalty as the third quarter clock expired put the Lopes in a man-up situation to begin the final 15 minutes.
As they have many times this season, the Lopes ramped up their execution in the fourth quarter.
"We started to clear the ball on a more consistent basis," said Guy. "That allowed us to finish more opportunities that we did not finish throughout the rest of the game."
Parietti cashed in on two of the opportunities, putting his personal goal total for the game at four and cutting the Liberty lead to three. Even though GCU scored twice more, they got no closer.
Eliminated from the tournament, Guy highlighted toughness as a key area for growth with his guys.
"We are tough enough to play in [the SLC and MCLA] tournaments, but not tough enough to win them," said Guy. "We need to become tougher mentally and physically. We need to become more responsible, accountable, and develop a better understanding of the game."
That in no way dampens Guy's enthusiasm for the team's prognosis.
"The future can be very bright here with this team as we're only losing two on-the-field players this offseason," said Guy. "But there is a lot of work that needs to be done by me, the coaching staff, and the players. There's a lot that we need to work on."
