COLUMBIA-In under 24 hours the University of Missouri men’s lacrosse team will be taking on Kansas in another match of the historic rivalry between the two schools.
While this season’s game is expected to be a highly-contested contest with a top-seed in the GRLC West at stake, this game has larger implications than what’s played on the lacrosse field. When Mizzou announced it would be joining the SEC in 2012, the university cut all ties with its Big 12 foe in its NCAA sports. Though a few programs have played KU since 2012 in postseason action, a regular season game hasn’t taken place since. As members of the MCLA and under the Club Sports Federation, the men’s lacrosse team was able to keep this rivalry going after 2012 and is now the most-prominent team on campus to still compete against their border-rivals on an annual basis. Each year, multiple media outlets from the Missouri and kansas areas cover the game and it gives both programs the opportunity to grow their brand and help promote lacrosse in the Midwest.
In honor of the historic rivalry, the winning team receives the Border War sword, which is kept on the campus of the winning school until the next showdown between the two universities. Featuring a restored Civil War sword, the trophy dons plaques of every game in the series, giving the winning program an opportunity to leave a permanent and lasting mark on the rivalry.
For those new to the rivalry, Mizzou’s held on to the sword for nearly the past decade, winning nine of the past ten battles. This season Missouri will be looking for its sixth win in a row in the series. However, Lawrence proves a tough task for the squad from Columbia as the Tigers have won by one goal and two goals respectively during the team’s last two trips and the program’s last loss to Kansas took place at their field in 2009.
Missouri will take on Kansas at 12 p.m. in Lawrence in the first GRLC West match of the season for the team. Following the game, the Tigers will travel to Manhattan to face Kansas State. Game time is planned for 6:00 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Please visit the Mizzou’s MCLA page at mcla.us/team/missouri for game scores and make sure to follow @MizzouLacrosse on Twitter for all the latest information and live-tweets from the two games.
