ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] Spartan Men's Lacrosse faced Lindenwood-Belleville in the regular season finale on Friday night and came away with a resounding 19-2 victory.
Missouri Baptist struck early and often as they exited the first quarter with a 7-0 lead. Ben Eder took the opening draw control and kicked off the scoring just 13 seconds into the match. They added seven more in the second quarter for a 14-1 halftime advantage.
The Spartans used the entire bench in the second half and the result was more of the same. After a four-goal third quarter, the visitors finally laid off the gas in the final stanza, registering their 19th and final marker with 11:38 left on the clock.
The final scoresheet was chalk full of gaudy numbers for MBU. Tim Borroff led all scorers with four goals. Hunter Hamernick and Sean Hess followed close behind, each with hat tricks of their own.
Devin Mayer and Dan Mollet posted two goals apiece, while John Wood and Noel Blood each scored for the first time in 2017. Andy Coulter reached double-digits on the season with his 10th goal as well. Leading scorer Austin Dahl was held out of the goal column but still contributed three assists.
Reigning NAIA National Player of the Week Robert Ates got the start in goal but gave way to Alex Lauko in the second quarter. The junior played the middle two quarters before Hunter Filla took over in the final 15 minutes.
The Spartans will now await the release of the final NAIA Coaches' Poll on Sunday night. The top eight in the poll will qualify for the National Invitational, May 3-6, in Greenville, S.C. Missouri Baptist is currently ranked No. 9 but expected to make a significant jump after a signature win over No. 4 Indiana Tech last week.
