Columbia, Mo. - The Columbia men's lacrosse team took on the Ottawa (Kan.) University Braves in the opening match of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference 2020 season. The Cougars defeated the Braves with a final score of 18-4. The Cougars are now 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

The Scoring
Q1-(CC) At the nine minute mark JT Huez got the Cougars on the board when he received that pass from Tyler Parrott. A minute later, John Thomas added to the lead by finding the back of the net. (CC-2, OU- 0)
Q1-(OU) Ottawa retaliated by putting up back to back goals within a minute of play. (CC-2, OU-2)
Q1-(CC) Henry Stauffer broke towards the net and passed it off to Trevor Doren to put up a goal (3:58). Doren got his second goal with the assist by Carson Morrisey within a minute. (CC-4, OU-2)
Q2-(CC) The first minute of the second quarter Tyler Parrott created the opportunity for JT Huez to get his second goal of the game. John Thomas forged his own way to the net for his second goal. (CC-6, OU-2)
Q2-(OU) A penalty from Ethan Kirchberg gave the Braves the man-up advantage and Ottawa's Jack Faulkner grabbed the goal. (CC-6, OU-3)
Q2-(CC) John Thomas charged the net, at the sixth minute and with a diving shot he found his hat trick. Tyler Parrott shaped the opportunity for Trevor Doren to get his first hat trick of the season. (CC-8, OU-3)
Q3-(CC) JT Huez earned his own hat trick with the aid of Tyler Parrott. At the seven minute mark Huez shuffled the pass to Ethan Kirchberg who found the back of the net. Huez switched places and gave the assist to Parrott to put his own goal up. John Thomas intercepted a pass, for an open net goal and Cooper Heck added the final goal of the quarter for the Cougars. (CC-13, OU-3)
Q3-(OU) An unassisted goal for the Braves by Brandon DeMarco gave Ottawa their fourth goal. (CC-13, OU-4)
Q4- Hunter Wadman passed the ball off to Trevor Doren for his fifth goal. Peter Jones shot his first goal of the season off a pass from Doren. Tyler Parrott found the path to the net for his second goal and Cooper Heck aided in John Thomas creating a career high goals scored with five.(CC-18, OU-4)

Evan Richardson (1-1) was in goal for the Cougars and made 13 saves.

Key Moments
The Braves were held to score just once in the second half. The Cougars had two players score five goals and Trevor Doren, John Thomas and JT Huez came out with a hat trick each.

By the Numbers
53- Columbia shots
29- Cougar ground balls
19-26- Won Columbia face-offs
100%- Columbia clears

Columbia College Leaders
Scoring leader - Trevor Doren and John Thomas (5) career highs
Shot Leader - Ethan Kirschberg (10)

Ottawa Leaders
Scoring leader-  Brandon DeMarco (2)
Shot Leader-  Brandon DeMarco (7)

Up Next 
The Cougars will be back on the field on Saturday, March 7^th when they compete against the Midland University Warriors in a KCAC matchup. Faceoff will start at 1:00 p.m. at R. Marvin Owens Field.