HANNIBAL, Mo. – Missouri Baptist Men's Soccer (8-4-2, 3-3-1 AMC) made a valiant comeback attempt on Tuesday afternoon but ultimately fell short in a 3-2 defeat to Hannibal-LaGrange (9-3-1, 5-0-1 AMC).
 
A one-sided first half in favor of HLG saw the Spartans fall behind 1-0 after 20 minutes. The Trojans attempted 13 shots in the opening 45 compared to just four for MBU. Four saves from Davide Bucarelli kept Mo. Bap in the game.
 
The start of the second half saw more of the same from the home side. Two more goals in a span of three minutes had the Spartans down three and in a world of hurt with a half hour still left in the second half.
 
There were signs of life though in the 67^th minute. Brandon Boos played Louie Perez into space and the freshman finished off his seventh goal of the year to make it 3-1. 12 minutes later, Cullen Barr tracked down a long ball from Josh Sapienza and potted home his team-leading 11^th of the year. That set the table for a potentially dramatic final 10 minutes but the Spartans were unable to find the equalizer. Hannibal held on to remain unbeaten in AMC play.
 
The Spartans still sit seventh in the AMC standings with four games to go. The top eight at the end of the regular season qualify for the postseason conference tournament. The next hurdle on the schedule will be a trip to Lindenwood-Belleville (7-3-1, 4-2 AMC) on October 23 at 4:30 pm.