ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College men's lacrosse team honored their seniors on Saturday, April 15th, in a game against Kalamazoo College at Bahlke Field. The Scots battled to the very last second in a tight game where they came up short, losing 14-13 to the Hornets.

Kalamazoo was able to strike first, netting two goals less than a minute apart to jump out to an early lead. Anar Tumurbaatar answered back with a shot from the left side to cut the deficit in half. The Hornets responded less than 30 seconds later pushing the lead back to two before MJ Humphreys beat his man and sent a shot past the keeper. After getting within once again, Kalamazoo went on to score four unanswered goals in the first until Kevin Koenn put life back into Alma with a goal a minute before the end of the first quarter. 

Alma and Kalamazoo traded three goals apiece to start the second quarter with Haden Johnson and Tumurbaatar notching the first two Alma goals and Drew Gulick scoring the third. Johnson scored his second of the quarter shortly after the Gulick goal to help cut into the Hornet lead. Ezra Leppanen brought the Scots within two with just over a minute left before halftime on a goal assisted by Tumubaatar. Following the Leppanen goal, Byron Weber was able to win the faceoff and give Alma another chance to head into the half trailing by one. Weber has able to catch a pass from Leppanen and send a shot into the back of the net with 20 seconds remaining, making the score 10-9 heading into the break.

Alma's second quarter momentum would not drag over after half time as the Hornets held the Scots off the board completely in the third quarter as they add three more to their score giving Alma a four-goal deficit heading into the final 15 minutes.

Alma started chipping away at the Kalamazoo lead early in the fourth as Weber would score another goal on an assist from Leppanen in the first two minutes, brining Alma within three. With a man-up opportunity, the Scots took advantage and Leppanen found the back of the net on a pass from Tumurbaatar just two minutes later, with Alma now only trailing by two with 11 minutes of gameplay left. Alma got within one just a minute later on a Gulick goal, headlining into the final ten minutes of a drama filled game. The Hornets then stretched the lead back to two with just under seven minutes remaining, trying to pull away from the Scots. Johnson responded with a man-up goal less than 30 seconds later to bring Alma back to trailing by one with plenty of time left on the clock. The Scots would have one final opportunity to send the game to overtime when the Hornets took a penalty with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game. Alma would put shots around the net but ultimately could not get the final much needed tally as Kalamazoo would spoil senior night at Bahlke Field.

Tumurbaatar led the charge with a team-high five points in the game as Leppanen followed behind with four. Weber tied for a game-high and led the Scots with six groundballs while Kendrick Rhines scooped up five. Owen Armstrong had two caused turnovers in the game for a team-high as Garin Stearns made seven saves in the contest. 

Alma will now get ready for a matchup against the Knights of Calvin University. Faceoff is set for 8:00 PM at Aquinas College.

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Story Credit: Eli Pinter, Sports Information Intern