ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Missouri Baptist men's lacrosse jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead after the first quarter, but Davenport rattled off eight unanswered goals to win 12-4.
The Spartans came into the game as the 16th ranked team in the nation, but was coming off a loss to second-ranked St. Thomas on Saturday. Davenport took a quick 1-0 lead on a goal from Dominic Boggiano just 4:40 seconds into the quarter. Missouri Baptist responded soon after.
Ian Brosch tied the game less than a minute later, swinging the momentum in Missouri Baptist's favor. Then, just 37 seconds later, Austin Floyd gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Over seven minutes went by without a goal when Spartan leading scorer, David Justvig, scored his 17th of the season to extend the lead to 3-1.
As the first quarter ended, MBU seemed up to the challenge against the number one team in the nation. The second quarter, however, proved to be a vastly different story. The Panthers scored six times, as the Spartan offense sputtered, to take a 7-3 lead heading into halftime. Davenport's Jack Turcotte and Lyle Parks both recorded two goals in the quarter.
After the half, the Panthers success continued. The team came out of the gate and scored two in the first 2:01 of the third quarter to extend the lead to 9-3.
After going almost 29 minutes without a goal, the Spartans got back on the board. Brandon Horschig rifled a shot past Panther keeper, Zach Higgins, to cut the lead to 9-4.
As the final quarter got underway, Missouri Baptist was forced to go on the penalty kill after a slash was called on Clayton Mollenbeck at the end of the third. The Panthers cashed-in quickly on a bullet from the stick of Jordan Richtsmeier to give his team a six-goal advantage once again.
Davenport tacked-on two more goals in the closing minutes of the game as the team rolled to a 12-4 victory. Davenport's Turcotte recorded a hat trick in the game while Panthers' leading scorer, Lyle Parks, got his 19th and 20th of the season.
With the loss, Missouri Baptist dropped to 3-3 while Davenport improved to 3-3 on the year. The Spartans will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at home against Wabash College.
