ST. LOUIS – In what felt like an elimination postseason game, Missouri Baptist men's soccer fought tooth and nail to the end, but just couldn't break through the Williams Baptist defense.
 
Spartan seniors Matt Peters, Joe Ruane, Nathan Brock, Eliman Kane, Brandon Burton, Jack Kavanaugh, Jared Cessac, Louie Perez, and Nicolo Tossici were honored for their time and contributions to the men's soccer program as part of Senior Night festivities prior to kickoff on Saturday night at Spartan Field.
 
Following the senior walk and from the first kick, (RV) MBU (7-3, 1-1 in AMC) and newly-ranked No. 18 WBU (8-0-2, 2-0-1 in AMC) were locked in a taut, defensive battle that carried major implications in the American Midwest Conference title race.
 
Both sides were determined not to blink first, and it was evident that the team to score first would likely lead to victory. The first half was back-and-forth, with chances hard to come by. When the halftime whistle was blown, the shot count was 3-1 in favor of WBU, none of them being on target.
 
The Eagles would agonizingly draw first blood minutes into the second after a bouncing ball at the edge of the MoBap box was deftly touched from forward Jacobo Obradors to the charging path of Fernando Paya. The midfielder from Alcoy, Spain, ripped a shot from 20 yards that found the bottom corner past a diving Callum McKinlay (46:20).
 
The Spartans would find themselves chasing the game the rest of the regulation but didn't give up. MBU got off five shots, but only one, a header from defender Ross Wilson, found the target and forced an Eagles save.
 
The WBU defense was content to protect the one goal lead and absorb the Spartan attempts at evening the game with a goal. With the pressure and the moment at hand, things would get chippy over the last 20 minutes. A late red card given to Perez left MBU shorthanded. In the end, the Eagles walked out of Spartan Field with the win against MoBap for the second year in a row.
 
"I thought we were good enough on the day and should have been up at half, but credit to Williams Baptist," head coach Jake Alvernia said. "Shots didn't come easy tonight for either side and they took their chance well. We put more pressure on in the second half but couldn't find the equalizer."
 
Missouri Baptist will look to bounce back in a midweek AMC matchup with Harris-Stowe State at Spartan Field against on Wednesday, Oct. 12th at 4 p.m.