ST. LOUIS – The offense was firing on all cylinders Wednesday afternoon as the Missouri Baptist men's lacrosse team scored a season high in goals en route to a 13-8 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan University. It marked the first time in 2019 that the Spartans have strung together back-to-back wins.
 
Wednesday's success gives the Spartans some well-deserved momentum heading into Senior Day on Saturday. This weekend's contest against Lindenwood University-Belleville (3-8) will serve as the final tune-up before MBU treks to Knoxville, Tenn. for the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Tournament.
 
Despite a quick start for Tennessee Wesleyan which included the first two goals of the game at the 11:44 and 10:37 marks, the Spartans turned things around rather quickly themselves. Down 2-0, Missouri Baptist returned the favor with goals by Andy Coulter and Sean Hess within a minute of each other. Noah Boone put the Spartans ahead of the Bulldogs for a short window scoring his third goal of the year prior to the end of the first quarter.
 
Scoring the only man-up goal of the day, TWU knotted the game at 3-all with a Jaylan Steen EMO goal two minutes into the second period. MBU's offensive reinforcements soon followed and helped turn the tide for the rest of the contest.
 
Josh Zion scored the go-ahead goal with 12:02 left in the second and from there the Spartans stifled the Bulldogs and forced seven more TWU turnovers before halftime. Sean Hess and Jaxon Haas added to the lead and gave Missouri Baptist a 6-3 lead at the break.
 
The momentum carried over into the second half as Josh Zion and Noah Boone scored back-to-back goals to open the third quarter. The Spartans had scored five straight before the Bulldogs could stop the bleeding.
 
Several Spartans contributed to the season-high 13 goals on Wednesday, however, fewer had a bigger game than senior Josh Zion. The midfielder from Mukwonago, Wis., had three goals in the third quarter to help extend MBU's lead. On the day, Zion registered a career-high 5 goals and was ultra-efficient when shooting on cage. He fired off seven shots with all five shots on goal finding the back of the net.
 
Joining Zion with a multi-goal game were Sean Hess (2), Noah Boone (2) and Alex Todd (2), who scored both of his in the fourth quarter.
 
The Spartans also had one of their best days defensively causing 14 TWU turnovers, the second-highest total of the season. Fisher Nuss led the way with 3, while Jacob Neuner, Garett McKelvie and Kai Meyers all had two apiece. The MBU defense was rock solid limiting Tennessee Wesleyan to 25 shots and just 12 on target for the day.
 
Other statistical leaders included Andy Coulter with 3 assists, Alex Todd and Sean Hess with 8 shots, and Fisher Nuss and Andrew Spillars with 6 ground balls.