COLUMBIA, MO – The University of Missouri’s Men’s Lacrosse team hosted a home game for the first time in over a month this past weekend. UMLC divisional foe Iowa State and conference foe Illinois both made the trip to Columbia.
Iowa state was the first game of the home stand on Friday night. Mizzou would get out to an 8-2 lead at the half and 10-2 going into the 4th. Iowa State would make a run in the fourth but it was to little to late as Mizzou would take the game 11-7 and move to 2-0 in divisional play. That puts Mizzou as the current #1 seed in the UMLC West with divisional opponents Kansas and Minnesota still left on the schedule.
Box Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Iowa State | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
GOALS: Sr. Noah Iversen(1), So. Jack Eagan(2), Sr. Cory Chlebicki(2), Fr. Alex Sahli(1), Sr. Mitch Lowenberg(1), Fr. Hunter Varley(1)
ASSISTS: Jr. Nick Pisani(2), Sr. Noah Iversen(1), So. Jack Eagan(1), Sr. Cory Chlebicki(1), Fr. Hunter Varley(1), So. Thomas Stewart(1)
FACEOFFS: So. Mike McDonough – 5/7 – 71%, Jr. Collin Schott – 11/15 – 73%
GOALIES: Jr. Connor Graves – 5 Saves, 1 GA – 71.4%, Fr. Ian Jones – 3 Saves, 5 GA – 37.5%
Mizzou would get the day off Saturday before taking on conference opponent Illinois on Sunday. A slow start for the Tigers led to a 3-3 score at the end of the first. Great goalie play and faceoff play from Mizzou made it hard for Illinois to gain ground on the Tigers throughout the rest of the game, but unfortunately the penalty box kept the game closer than the Tigers would of liked. Mizzou would persist through it though and started to pull away in the third away eventually doubling up on Illinois 16-8 for the final. Jr. Midfielder and 2018 1st team all-conference performer Nick Pisani would explode in this game putting in 5 goals and 3 assist to go with it. Some other noteworthy performances include Sr. midfielder Kyle Holmes and So. Jack Eagan, as they would both each net a hat trick on the day.
Box Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 16 |
| Illinois | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
GOALS: So. Nick Pisani(5), So. Jack Eagan(3), Sr. Kyle Holmes(3), Sr. Noah Iversen(2), Sr. Sean Lazinger(1), So. Thomas Stewart(1), Fr. Alex Sahli(1),
ASSISTS: So. Nick Pisani(3), Sr. Kyle Holmes(2), Fr. Hunter Varley(2), So. Jack Eagan(1), Sr. Noah Iversen(1), Sr. Cory Chlebicki(1)
FACEOFFS: So. Mike McDonough – 11/12 – 91.7%, Jr. Collin Schott – 10/16 – 62.5%
GOALIES: Jr. Connor Graves – 18 Saves, 7 GA – 72%, Fr. Rocco Monachino – 2 Saves, 0 GA – 100%, Fr. Ian Jones – 0 Saves, 1 GA – 0%
SEASON BY THE NUMBERS: So the Tigers are at 6-2 through 8 in the season, their best 8 game start since 2011. 3-0 at home, 3-2 on the road, 4-1 in the conference, 2-0 in the division. Sr. attackman Noah Iversen leads the country in Points and PPG, 2nd in goals, and third in assist in the season so far and leads the UMLC in all of those categories. Sophomore attackman Jack Eagan has cracked the nations top 50 point producers as well coming in at #47 ranked overall. In the conference Sr. Noah Iverson(#1), So. Jack Eagan(#4), Jr, Nick Pisani(#12), Fr. Alex Sahli(#16) and Sr. Kyle Holmes(#22) all cracked the UMLC’s top 25 point producers. Jr. Goalie Connor Graves is currently ranked #10 in the nation in save percentage(minimum 50 shots faced) and leads the UMLC.
All in all a great season so far for the Tigers but will be interesting to see how the long break until their next game affects them. Will they come out at a whole new level? Or will they have to spend the first few games getting back into the swing of things? Only time will tell. Next game is at home against Missouri State at 6pm on Stankowski Field. Go Tigers!
