2022 KCAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Bracket

St. Ambrose will play in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) title game for the second straight season after defeating Columbia Thursday afternoon in Atchison, Kansas. The Bees used a seven-goal fourth quarter to come away with a 17-13 victory at Legacy Field. 

Clinging to a one-goal lead entering the final frame, SAU put together a solid quarter. The Bees took the first five shots of the period, with Michael Shakerin finding the back of the net with 13:41 to go to take an 11-9 lead. Forty seconds later, Isaiah Hahn found Christian Dimaano for a three-goal lead. The Cougars got one back with 10:49 remaining on a score from Derek Howard to make it 12-10. St. Ambrose answered with two goals of their own as Hayden Latham found Dimaano for a score, and then Dimaano found Sam Kerr for a goal to make it 14-10 with 7:16 left in the game. Columbia responded quickly with another goal from Howard to cut the lead to three, but SAU rattled off three goals in less than a minute to take a 17-11 lead with 5:51 to go. Latham (from Hahn), Cole Danner (from Michael Keating), and Kerr scored in quick succession to give St. Ambrose a six-goal lead. John Thomas would net a goal for the Cougars with 4:42 on the clock, and Columbia would get a late score to account for the 17-13 final. 

Shakerin got the scoring started just 45 seconds into the match to put the Bees up early. Tyler Parrott tied up the game with 8:53 to go in the first quarter, but Shakerin found Danner less than a minute later to put St. Ambrose back in front. The Cougars scored the next two to take a 3-2 lead with 3:45 remaining in the first. SAU got back-to-back goals from Keating and a goal from Danner to make it 5-3 with under a minute remaining in the period, but Columbia would score with one second on the clock to make it a one-score game heading into the second quarter. 

St. Ambrose had the first two chances of the second period, but neither Shakerin nor Makaile Shaddix could get their shots past the keeper. After a save from Nolan Hayes, Latham was able to beat the keeper and give SAU a 6-4 lead. A Kerr to Danner connection followed, giving the Bees a three-goal lead with 11:00 to go until the break. Columbia was able to get a score from John Thomas, but another score from Danner (from Dimaano) made it 8-5 with 8:54 remaining until half. The Cougars got the final two scores in the frame to make it a one-score game at the break.

The teams went score-for-score in the third period. Leading 8-7, Shakerin put the Bees up two with 13:40 left in the quarter. Tyler Parrott scored for Columbia with 12:02 on the clock to make it a one-score game again. After back-to-back saves from Hayes, Shakerin found Danner to make it 10-8, but the Cougars answered less than thirty seconds later to make it 10-9 with 6:59 to go in the quarter. Hayes made three more saves as neither team would score again in the frame making it a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter. 

Hayes finished with 14 saves, seven of those coming in the third quarter. Danner led the way offensively with six goals and one assist. Shakerin had three goals and three assists, and Dimaano had two goals and two assists. Latham, Kerr, and Keating each finished with two goals and one assist. Hunter Northway won 26-29 faceoffs, collecting 21 ground balls on the way. Ben Blankenship scooped up five. 

St. Ambrose will face Benedictine in the championship game on Saturday, April 23rd at 4 p.m. Benedictine defeated Ottawa, 18-12 in the other KCAC semifinal. The Bees beat the Ravens earlier this season, 10-5. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the National Invitational Tournament. More information on the 2022 KCAC Men's Lacrosse tournament can be found here.