Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 defeat to Hannibal-LaGrange University on Tuesday night in the semifinal round of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament. Columbia, the tournament's No. 2 seed, falls to 11-6-3 with the loss. The Trojans, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, improve to 11-7-1 on the year.

Hannibal-LaGrange grabbed an early lead on a goal by Mario Ferrero in the fourth minute. Both defenses tightened up over the remainder of the half as the two squads combined for seven shots in the opening period, with the Trojans taking a 1-0 advantage into the halftime break. The second half lacked much offense until the 76^th minute, when Rafael Ramos took a cross from Dan Reilly and scored to tie the game at 1-1 with 14 minutes left to play in regulation. The contest appeared headed to overtime until a save attempt by Cougar goalkeeper Matt McKenna was deflected to Hannibal's Manuel Saez, who found the back of the net for the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner.

McKenna took the hard-luck loss with three saves in goal for Columbia, who outshot the Trojans 11-10 on the night.

Ramos was also named the conference's offensive player of the week on Monday for his performance in Saturday's comeback win over Lyon (Ark.) College in the AMC Tournament Quarterfinals. The senior forward scored three goals in the final 18 minutes of regulation to give the Cougars a 3-1 victory. Tuesday night's goal was Ramos' 15^th of the season, tops in the conference.

Columbia will await the release of the NAIA National Tournament bracket in hopes of an at-large bid to the opening round, which kicks off on November 23^rd. Hannibal-LaGrange will move on to face top-seeded Park University on Friday, November 15^th in the AMC Tournament Championship. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the national tournament. Match time is set for 1:00 p.m. in Parkville, Mo.