On a cold and rainy Sunday, ironically the first official weekend of spring, the Missouri Tigers took on the Washington University Bears in St. Louis on historic Francis Field; the site of the 1904 Summer Olympics and 1904 World Fair. The Tigers started out with a lead in the first quarter that was never relinquished throughout the game.
Attackman and captain Cory Kaufman (#9) had a breakout game contributing 8 points (4G/4A), and senior Billy Dowell (#17) spoke up with 5 goals of his own. Junior attackman Troy Clesen (#26) remained steady with a 5 point game (4G/1A), one of which was assisted by a smooth backhand flip from attackman Clayton Melrose (#14) (1G/4A), while captain Josh Nelson (#33) also put 4 points on the board (2G/2A).
“We did a great job today of controlling the ball and thus controlling the game,” said Head Coach Keith Euker. “James Stannard (#16) (27/29) did an outstanding job for us on the face-off X. And if you can control the game from the draw, everything should flow from there.”
The home team Bears fought hard and brought the game to within a 2 goal difference, lead by some phenomenal saves by goaltender Gus Peters. Ultimately though, the Tigers held the lead as the last seconds of the final quarter ticked away.
