Pride Fall to Missouri Baptist, 24-3

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Alyssa Humphrey netted two goals and Emily Moran added another, but an aggressive offense by the Spartans of Missouri Baptist proved to be too much to handle as the Pride fell 24-3 on Thursday night at Burrows Field.

The Pride (0-4, 0-2 KCAC) surrendered the first three goals of the game (13:24, 10:28, 8:48) before Humphrey's tally came unassisted at 7:43 to cut into the deficit. Missouri Baptist (4-2, 1-0) responded with their fourth goal merely 30 second later (7:01) to go up 4-1.

Humphrey added the Pride's second goal at 5:38, making it a 4-2 game. However, this was as close as Clarke could get to the Spartans, who would close out the first quarter with scores at 4:44, 2:23, 1:32 and 0:03 to go up six (8-2).

Missouri Baptist controlled the second quarter by scoring seven goals (12:29, 11:10, 8:37, 8:07, 4:46, 3:04, 1:21) and limiting the Pride to just three shots and no goals. The Spartans headed into halftime with a commanding 15-2 lead.

The start of the third quarter saw the Pride jump out of its scoring slump when Emily Moran found the back of the net unassisted. The Spartans' defense ramped things up following that goal, limiting shot opportunities throughout the rest of the contest, while its offense remained hot. Following Clarke's last goal, Missouri Baptist scored another nine to close out the match, 24-3.

In all, eight different Spartans scored a goal with Ashley Avery and Jordan Haeusser leading the way at five apiece. Chayleb Deves was close in second with four goals, while Brianna Fischer had three. For Clarke, Humphrey led the team in shots with five, followed by Moran with three. Missouri Baptist won the shot (34-11) and ground ball battle (10-7).

For the Pride, Mars Beimert played all 60 minutes in goal and picked up seven saves. Amelia Shaw and Kevynn Knoettner split time in goal for the Spartans (44:37, 15:23) and combined for six saves.  

Up next, the Pride will hit the road to face Ottawa University next Thursday, Mar. 24. The conference showdown is set to start at 4 p.m. CT.