ST. LOUIS - The Missouri Baptist University men's lacrosse team kept the score close to Columbia College in the semifinal game of the KCAC Men's Lacrosse Championship on Thursday (April 18), but ultimately could not keep up with the Cougars' transition and ground ball game in the fourth quarter. This resulted in a 16-6 loss. 

MBU fought hard to stay in the game, and even scored first. First team all-conference midfielder Brock Pleis put MoBap up by one off an assist from Reece Dotterer. 

CC scored two more after this, but Dylan Forbeck, first team all-conference midfielder and leader in the KCAC for assists, responded with a goal of his own. 

MoBap and Columbia remained neck and neck. CC scored two goals in a row after Forbeck, but Pleis got the last goal of the quarter. 

Going into the second quarter, the score was 4-3. CC scored one goal, and Forbeck promptly responded with another. This gave Pleis (G) and Caleb Tant (A) the momentum to score one more for MBU, tying the game 5-5. 

CC scored another, but Forbeck, who was on fire, recieved an assist from Tant to tie the game again. 

Columbia scored three more shortly after this goal. The defense put forth their best efforts, but CC's attack was relentless.

KCAC Player of the Year and MBU goalkeeper, Ashton Scott, held it down between the pipes with a .481 save percentage. He stayed consistent and managed to grab a ground ball. 

Second team all-conference defender Connor Hickman showed out, picking up 4 GBs and causing one turnover. First team all-conference defender Tanner Whittemore grabbed 2 GBs. Freshman and face off specialist Alex Reyes picked up 2 GBs. 

On attack, Drew Chiodini scored a goal off an assist from Dotterer, bringing the score to 9-7. After this, CC scored three goals again. 

Finally, second team all-conference attacker Joe Busselman scored a goal off another assist from Dotterer. 

CC and MBU went goal for goal towards the end of the game, but MBU didn't have time to catch back up. Busselman scored one more goal to bring the final to 14-9.

If there had been a few more minutes in the game, this would be a different story. The Spartans played with heart and grit, and they would have caught up to the Cougars with more time on the clock. 

Fortunately, most players will be returning for another season where they hope to improve their record and grow even more as a program in 2025.