ST. LOUIS – A week after a loss to (RV) Benedictine College in its home opener, the Missouri Baptist University men's lacrosse team suffered a setback at home to another Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) opponent. A sharpshooting attack from Ottawa University boosted the visiting Braves to a 17-9 win on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Field.
 
With a win in their season opener, the Braves are 1-0 to begin the year, while the Spartans move to 1-2 on the year. It also marked the first win for Ottawa in the series as MBU owned a 2-0 record against the Braves heading into today's contest.
 
Following the trend from the first two games of 2019, the Spartans opened up the scoring and did so with just 33 seconds coming off the clock. With the help of Alex Todd, senior midfielder Josh Zion snuck one past Ottawa goalie Carson Davis to give MBU an early 1-0 advantage. It would be the only lead of the game for Missouri Baptist as the Braves went on to score six of the next seven goals.
 
Trailing 3-1, Zion scored his second goal of the game at the 5:52 mark. However, by the end of the first quarter, OU led 6-2, in large part due to a two-minute span where the Braves scored three consecutive goals.
 
Accounting for all three of the Spartans' first-half goals, Zion scored an unassisted goal to begin the second period giving him his second hat trick of the season.
 
Each time MBU scored, the Braves had an answer. More often than not, the two main culprits were Ottawa's Canadian standouts – Pearson Willis and Aidan Baker. The pair from British Columbia combined for five goals and three assists in the half alone. At halftime, the Braves were up 9-3.
 
Ottawa had another strong quarter offensively in the third and outscored Missouri Baptist, 6-3. Other Spartans were able to get involved including Trevor Park with his first two goals of the year as well as Alex Todd punching one with an extra-man opportunity.
 
Down 11 and in desperation mode, Missouri Baptist was finally able to put together a stretch of goals without allowing the Braves to counter. Freshman Stephen Vellia scored his first career goal with 10:36 remaining, which was followed by Jaxon Haas (5) and Noah Campbell (1).
 
Statistically, the Spartans did several things well including a 23-7 advantage in face offs won and a 50% success rate on extra-man opportunities, while the Braves were 0-for-3. The biggest difference maker was the Spartans' 27 turnovers along with Ottawa's accuracy. The Braves scored 17 goals on 24 targeted shots. OU was led by Pearson Willis, who finished with 11 points (5 G, 6 A).
 
Other notable performances for the Spartans included Garett McKelvie (5 GB, 2 CT), defender Fisher Nuss (3 GB, 3 CT), Noah Campbell, who was 8-for-10 on face offs and had six ground balls, and Andrew Spillars, who was 14-for-19 on face offs with 11 ground balls.
 
The Spartans wrap up a three-game homestand next Saturday (March 9) when they host (RV) Lourdes University at 12 p.m.