ATCHISON, Kan. – The Columbia College men's lacrosse team saw its season come to an end Thursday evening, falling to second-seeded William Penn University 12–6 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament semifinals at Legacy Field. The Cougars finish the season 11-6 overall.
William Penn wasted no time asserting control, going up 2–0 in the first quarter on back-to-back unassisted goals. Kenny Bohney opened the scoring at 14:14 before Isaac Heitschmidt doubled the advantage just past the midpoint of the period. Columbia generated chances but could not beat Statesmen goalkeeper Connor Russell, who kept the Cougars off the board through 15 minutes.
The second quarter started promisingly for Columbia. Carrying a man-up opportunity into the period, Brock Pleis converted off a Drake Morrissey feed just 13 seconds in to cut the deficit to 2–1. Kai Garriock tied it moments later off a Jack McDowell assist at 12:56, and for a brief window it appeared the Cougars had found their footing. William Penn responded immediately, however, with Lucas Cox scoring unassisted just 16 seconds after the equalizer to put the Statesmen back in front. What followed was a 4-0 WPU run to close the half — goals from Bohney, Heitschmidt, Matt Scott, and Everett Breniser — that pushed the lead to 7–2 at the break.
Columbia struggled to stem the tide in the third quarter. Garrett Katrana opened the period with an unassisted goal at 11:34 to make it 8–2, and Morrissey answered with an unassisted tally at 8:20 to keep the Cougars within reach at 8–3. William Penn closed the quarter with back-to-back goals — Bohney off a Katrana feed and Harley Williams also assisted by Katrana — to push the lead to 10–3 heading into the fourth.
The Cougars showed resolve in a competitive final period, outscoring William Penn 3–2. William Rusk opened the quarter with a Nico Andrews-assisted goal, and McDowell added an unassisted tally at 11:26 to make it 10–5. Scott answered for WPU at 9:15 before Rusk scored again unassisted at 8:15 to trim it to 11–6. Scott's final goal at 3:33 closed out the scoring for the Statesmen.
Rusk led Columbia with two goals, while Pleis, Garriock, Morrissey, and McDowell each added one. McDowell and Morrissey each recorded an assist, as did Andrews.
Goalkeeper Bryce Peltier turned in a gutsy performance between the pipes for Columbia, making 11 saves on the full 60 minutes.
