By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

The Missouri state championship trophy is returning to Kansas City.

Senior attackman Will Nulton registered a team-high four points on two goals and two assists to lead top-seeded Rockhurst Jesuit to an 8-6 victory over second-seeded Eureka in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Division I state title game Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood University.

Junior middie Peter Muehlebach and sophomore attackman Charlie Ferber each added a pair of goals to help the Hawklets (21-5) win their third state championship in the last five years and fourth overall. Rockhurst Jesuit also won the state title in 2008, 2006 and 2003.

“This team ranks pretty close to the team that went 27-0,” said Rockhurst Jesuit head coach Jay Coleman, referring to the 2006 squad that finished the season nationally ranked. “In terms of talent, heart and willingness to keep the whole thing going, this was a really good team.

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“We’ve been out of school for three weeks, but these guys kept showing up to practice, kept going, and they did what we asked them to do.”

Rockhurst Jesuit finished the year on a nine-game winning streak, and the Hawklets ran the table in Missouri. Against in-state opponents this season, Rockhurst Jesuit went 17-0. All five losses came against top-flight, out-of-state competition.

The difficult schedule proved to help the Hawklets in the end. Rockhurst Jesuit won its final two games over MICDS and Eureka by a combined three goals.

Senior attackman Nick Julian had a goal and an assist, senior middie Henry Crowe scored once and senior middie Alec Barth had an assist to round out the Rockhurst Jesuit offense.

Defensively, senior goalie Scott Brown saved 11 shots and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. At the face-off X, Coleman gave credit to Jeff Crowe for doing a solid job in relief for Muehlebach, who, “got his bell rung,” in the first half.

In defeat, junior middie Ryan Gardner finished with four points on three goals and an assist, senior middie Matt Vollmer scored twice and junior attackman Henry Tellini had a goal and an assist for Eureka (12-4), which was making its first appearance in the Division I state championship game.

Senior goalie Anthony Paschke saved 16 shots, but the undermanned Wildcats wilted under extremely hot playing conditions.

“The kids played hard, but we could only run 13 kids,” said Eureka head coach Jon Silva, who announced after the game he would be leaving St. Louis and taking over as an assistant coach next season at Loyola-Los Angeles in Southern California.

“It was hot, we made mistakes and they capitalized on them.”

The game was tied, 2-2, at the end of the first quarter, and Rockhurst Jesuit led 4-3 at halftime. But the Hawklets began to take control in the second half.

Rockhurst Jesuit opened the third quarter with a three-goal run to push ahead, 7-3. It was 7-4 going into the final 12 minutes, and Eureka could never get closer than two.

“I thought we handled the conditions well,” Coleman said. “We did a good job from Wednesday night to today getting ready for it, and I think that helped us win the game. I think we were better conditioned than they were, and we had more bodies. After halftime, I think they were a little wiped out.”