ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist Men's Lacrosse wrapped up its 2021 season in the KCAC Championship Quarterfinals with a 9-6 loss at home to No. 5-seed William Penn University. A big second half from the Statesmen spoiled the Spartans' first-ever Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament appearance and the chance for a perfect record at home.
 
MBU's loss to the young but talented second-year program marked the first and only loss at Spartan Field in 2021. Due to COVID-19 cancelations, the Spartans played just three games at home this spring. Overall, (RV) Missouri Baptist finished the year above .500 with a record of 6-5, 6-2 KCAC.
 
As expected for a 4-5 seeded matchup, the two teams jockeyed for position for a majority of the game. Alex Todd got the ball rolling just 1:32 into the contest with his 13^th goal of the year. Following Todd's opening goal, the Statesmen drew even at 1-1, which was the first of four ties in the half.
 
William Penn took its first lead of the game (4-3) with 2:53 remaining in the half, but it was short-lived as Alex Scott scored his second goal making it 4-4, heading into halftime.
 
The give-and-take approach carried over into the third quarter as WPU's Collin Baliva scored on an extra-man opportunity a minute into the half. It was again MoBap's Alex Scott who scored the equalizer.
 
Unfortunately for the Spartans, the goals were much harder to come by in the second half. Neither team could find the back of the net for a nine-minute stretch until the Statesmen opened the floodgates. After the offensive lull, (RV) William Penn scored four consecutive goals to put the game out of reach.
 
The Spartans put four shots on cage in the fourth quarter, but the only one to get past WPU goalie Jeremy Smith was Luke Slagle's goal in the game's final seconds. It was too little, too late for the Spartans.
 
MBU's offense struggled to produce on Saturday after scoring 10+ goals in six of the seven previous games. Alex Scott was one bright spot for the Spartans, accounting for half of the team's goals. The Fontbonne University transfer led the team in points (32) and tied for the team lead in goals (23) with Jaxon Haas. On Saturday, other noteworthy performances included goalie Hunter Filla with 19 saves and defenseman Blake Lauria with two caused turnovers.
 
William Penn finished the game with a 28-12 advantage in shots on goal, scooped up 16 more ground balls than the Spartans (33-17), and held a slight edge in faceoffs won (10-9).