COLUMBIA, Mo. – Revenge was not on the menu Tuesday night for Missouri Baptist men's soccer. The fight was there, but a pair of second half Columbia goals ended postseason dreams of glory for the Spartans hoping to win their way to an American Midwest Conference (AMC) tournament title.
 
MBU made its second trip of the season to R. Marvin Owens Field this season for the Semifinal match of the AMC Men's Soccer Championship. The No. 3-seeded Spartans were looking to flip the script from the regular season game on Oct. 15, where No. 2 seed Columbia College (CC) were the victors in a tightly contested game where the only score was a penalty kick.
 
The first half of the win-or-go-home would be as much of a back and fourth battle as you could get, with both schools getting clean opportunities at net and notching three shots on target apiece. The score would remain a scoreless 0-0 deadlock at intermission, however, with 45 minutes left for the visitors to grab the headlines and advance to the final or see the curtains fall on the 2022 season.
 
Erik Rajoy would be the Cougar to draw first blood, and much like the regular season contest between the two sides, the initial score would come on a penalty. Following a wild sequence where the Cougar attack peppered the goal with shots, only for Spartan goalkeeper Callum McKinlay to make three miraculous saves, the ball lingered in the box long enough for Columbia to get the final touch before contact came. The referee awarded a PK to the home side, which Rajoy stepped up and put into the net for his eighth goal of the season (56:11).
 
Not long after, Rajoy found paydirt again. CC forward Ethan Blake played a pass to an oncoming Rajoy at the top of the arc, who curled the ball in at the right post to double the advantage (59:15). It would be an uphill climb for MoBap the rest of the game.
 
The Spartan attack would turn up the heat in search of a chance at taking things to overtime, managing five shots over the following 25 minutes, four of them being on target, and the last one being a goal. It came on another penalty kick after senior Nicolo Tossici was fouled in the box. AMC Freshman of the Year Marko Dordevic dispatched the penalty with power to the left corner (85:40) to give MBU a glimmer of hope.
 
It would be a nervy ending for the home fans with the onslaught of Spartan players pressing forward in the last few minutes. Two chances inside of 90 seconds remaining in regulation, a volley strike from Eliman Kane that went high, and a Dordevic attempt wide to the left, were enough to give scare, but not enough to find the net for 20 extra minutes of game via overtime.
 
In the final stats, the instant classic of a semifinal saw a near even game by the numbers. CC registered 20 shots, with 8 on goal, while MBU had 16 and 7. Both keepers had six saves to their name, the final corner tally was 5-4 Columbia and the fouls disparity was just one at 16-15.
 
"We wanted to create more than our last game with them and I thought we did that," said Missouri Baptist head men's soccer coach Jake Alvernia. "We had several chances to win tonight. Their penalty changed the game… [but] I loved the boys response. We put everything into tonight"
 
Missouri Baptist ends its season with a 12-6 record and a 5-3 AMC performance in the regular season.
 
"Lads fought like poet warriors,"