COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Columbia College men's lacrosse team dominated from start to finish Saturday afternoon, rolling past sixth-seeded Missouri Baptist University 19–7 in the quarterfinals of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament at R. Marvin Owens Field. With the victory, the Cougars improve to 11-5 overall and advance to the tournament semifinals as the #3 seed.

Columbia jumped out to a first-quarter lead despite falling behind early. Caleb Ward gave Missouri Baptist a 1-0 edge less than 30 seconds in off a Wesley Jeffers assist, but the Cougars answered with three straight. Kai Garriock knotted it with an unassisted tally at the 14-minute mark, and Drake Morrissey found the net twice — including a feed from Nico Andrews — to put Columbia ahead 3–1. Ryan Metcalf pulled the Spartans within one at 3–2, but the Cougars went into the second quarter in front.

The second quarter turned the game decisively in Columbia's favor. Moments after Dylan Forbeck converted an impressive man-down goal to extend the lead to 4–2, Jake Cordes answered for Missouri Baptist on a man-up opportunity to make it 4–3 and keep things interesting. But the Cougars responded with five of the next six goals to seize control. William Rusk scored back-to-back, Morrissey added his third of the day, and Garriock converted a man-up chance off a Brock Pleis assist. Adam Spriggs capped the surge with 20 seconds remaining, sending the Cougars into halftime ahead 9–4.

Any doubt evaporated in the third quarter, as Columbia erupted for seven unanswered goals to put the game firmly out of reach. Morrissey opened the period with two more in under a minute — his fourth and fifth of the afternoon — before Andrews, Kail Mattis, Garriock, Jack McDowell, and Andrews again closed out an electric stretch that stretched the lead to 16–4. Missouri Baptist did not score in the period.

The fourth quarter saw the Cougars cruise to the final with a 3-3 stanza. Missouri Baptist got things started when Joe Busselman converted a man-down goal off a Jake Cordes assist at the 14-minute mark, but Gavin Peraino answered immediately for Columbia. Andrews added his third goal of the day at the 10:20 mark and Garriock rounded out his four-goal performance at the 3:00 mark. Caleb Ward and Drew Chiodini scored in the final two minutes to close out the scoring for Missouri Baptist.

Morrissey was the game's standout performer, finishing with five goals and two assists for seven points on the day. Garriock was equally dynamic with four goals and an assist, while Andrews added three goals and two assists. Pleis chipped in two assists, and Rusk, McDowell, Forbeck, Mattis, Peraino, and Spriggs each found the back of the net. The Cougars outshot the Spartans 48–32 and held a 40–30 advantage in ground balls.

Kail Mattis controlled the faceoff X for Columbia, winning 10 of 29 draws. Goalkeeper Bryce Peltier made six saves in just under 36 minutes of action before giving way to Andrew Stapf, who stopped 10 shots the rest of the way to close out the victory. Daniel Heinrich made 13 saves in a full 60-minute effort for Missouri Baptist.

Up next, the Cougars will face #2-seeded William Penn University in the HAAC Tournament semifinals on Thursday, April 30.