ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist Men's Lacrosse defeated Asbury University 8-5 in the 2017 season opener on Friday afternoon.
The No. 3 ranked Spartans came out of the gates hot when senior Ben Eder scored at 1:14 of the first quarter. That would hold up as the only goal of a tight-checking opening frame.
The Eagles answered early in quarter two with two goals from junior, Jake Butler. The Spartans seemed stymied by the zone defense put into play by Asbury. After a timeout by Head Coach Andy Joly however, MBU made an adjustment and tied the game on a goal by Devin Mayer with 6:47 left in quarter two. Andy Coulter added another goal a little over a minute later and the Spartans took a 3-2 lead into halftime.
The navy and white kept the momentum going in quarter three. Dan Mollet notched his first of the year followed by another marker from Coulter to give MBU a 5-2 advantage. Asbury would narrow it to 5-4 but failed to climb any closer.
Fourth quarter goals from Mayer, Mollet, and Tim Borroff helped the Spartans pull away for a three-goal victory. Robert Ates made 10 saves in net to earn the win.
It'll be a quick turnaround now as MBU will do battle with the Montreat Cavaliers (N.C.) on Saturday morning at 9 am at CBC Stadium.
