LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – After a tough slate to begin 2021, the Missouri Baptist University men's lacrosse team is beginning to find its groove. On Thursday afternoon, the Spartans pulled away in the second half to snag an 11-6 road win at University of Saint Mary (Kan.).
 
Winning its second game in a row in KCAC play, Missouri Baptist improved to 2-3, 2-1 KCAC. Saint Mary, on the other hand, is still searching for its first win of the year as it dropped to 0-3, 0-3 KCAC.
 
Six different players found the back of the net for the Spartans including four who registered multi-goal efforts – Alex Scott (3 G), Noah Campbell (2 G, 1 A), Alex Todd (2 G, 2 A), and Jaxon Haas (2 G).
 
For the second game in a row, the Spartans got off to a great start, outscoring the Spires 3-0 in the first 15 minutes of play. USM settled in and cut the lead down to just one at halftime (4-3) after a 3-1 scoring advantage over the Spartans in the second period.
 
The two teams each added one goal in the first half of the third before MBU began to break away. In a man-up situation, senior attackman Jaxon Haas saw his window of opportunity and pounced with a goal from 10 yards out following a pair of crisp passes (assists) from Alex Todd and Ian Olenski. Haas' goal sparked a 5-0 run for the Spartans giving the visitors a 10-4 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the contest.
 
In desperation mode, Saint Mary managed to put up two more points in the final two minutes, however, the game was already out of reach.
 
Although the Spires won the ground ball battle 32-26 and faceoffs 14-6, one of their biggest downfalls was 20 turnovers to MBU's 6 in addition to a hefty 46-25 shot advantage in favor of the Spartans. Defenseman Richie Graham and long stick middie Colin Klahs combined for 9 ground balls and 1 caused turnover.
 
Earning his second career start, sophomore goalie Daniel Heinrich made seven stops in the cage for Missouri Baptist.
 
Prior to a four-game homestand beginning next week, the Spartans will spend one more game as the away team visiting Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. on Saturday at 3 p.m.