ST. LOUIS, Mo. — On Thursday afternoon (Feb. 22), the Missouri Baptist University men's lacrosse team lost 14-6 in their home opener against St. Ambrose University, despite MBU's impressive play in the first and fourth quarters.

The Fighting Bees were the first to put a point on the scoreboard, but the Spartans quickly responded with goal of their own from Reece Dotterer, assisted by Brock Pleis. 

SAU managed to sneak in two more goals before the end of the first quarter, but not without a fight from MBU's defense. 

Throughout the game, LSM Colin Klahs picked up five ground balls and caused one turn over, and midfielder Liam Prindable caused a turnover on the Bees as well. 

Utility player Connor Hickman took on the responsibility of being an LSM against the Bees. Leading MBU with 14 GBs overall, Hickman recorded six GBs and one CTO in this game.

Goalkeeper Ashton Scott had 13 saves on the day, some of which were undefended fast breaks.

Defenders Daniel Heinrich and Sean Livingston played big roles in transitioning the ball into the Spartan's attacking end. 

Regardless, the second and third quarters got away from MBU, with St. Ambrose outscoring MoBap 6-0 in the second and 3-1 in the third. 

Dotterer scored the lone goal in the third quarter with assistance from Dylan Forbeck. Forbeck now leads MBU in assists with six on the season. 

Missouri Baptist came into the fourth quarter with more intensity and discipline. 

Freshman Alex Reyes won five faceoffs, recording most of them in the fourth quarter. 

MBU outscored SAU 4-2 in this quarter as well. Drew Chiodini, MoBap's leading scorer, put a goal in the back of the net assisted by Brock Pleis. 

Nolan Portell scored the first goal of his collegiate career, and Dotterer scored two more goals in the last 40 seconds of the game. 

Dotterer's last two goals were assisted by Forbeck and Pleis. 

The Spartans will play at home again on Feb. 29.