Kirkwood finishes what it started last year in win over Ladue in Class 1 boys lacrosse final
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By Greg Uptain | Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
ST. CHARLES — Ryan Buesching did not want to see history repeat itself.
His Kirkwood boys lacrosse team entered last season’s Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 Show-Me Cup championship game as the No. 1 seed, but the Pioneers were upset by seventh-seeded Wentzville in overtime.
Fast forward a year and the No. 1 seed Pioneers were back in the same spot Friday night at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium on the campus of Lindenwood University.
This time, though, Kirkwood would take care of business.
Buesching scored the first goal of the game just 30 seconds in and then after the Pioneers’ lead had been sliced to one, the 6-foot-9 senior attacker tallied consecutive goals to start a 6-0 run and Kirkwood never looked back in a 20-11 victory over Ladue in this year’s Show-Me Cup final.
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“I was nervous the whole game. We were up 10 with like six minutes left and I was still sweating,” Buesching said. “Losing last year here was pretty tough. Just being able to come back and complete the story my senior year feels amazing.”
The title was the second for Kirkwood (11-9) and first since 1995.
“This is all about the Kirkwood community. I just feel so privileged and honored to be able to take a championship back to Kirkwood because they’ve been yearning for it,” Pioneers coach Chris Luckett said. “We’ve been so close the last three years, so to finally accomplish it, these fans and these kids deserve it.”
Third-seeded Ladue (7-9) came into the final with wins in seven of its last eight games after a 1-7 start to the season, but a seven-goal hole at the end of the first quarter was too much to overcome against a Pioneers team that dealt the Rams their only two setbacks in that final nine-game stretch.
“Our freshman goalie (Marcus Goebel) had a hurt thumb for a lot of the year. He finally got healthy and his teammates believed in him and our defense started playing a lot better as a whole,” Rams coach Nick Striler said of the season turnaround. “And then today he hurt his thumb again and it got a slippery there. He was the reason why we were here, so hat’s off to him. He did a great job this year.”
Buesching was joined Friday in the four-goal club by Chris Phillips and Evan Cleveland. All three are seniors.
“I’ve been playing with these kids since fourth or fifth grade, so it was huge to see all the seniors really getting their licks in and getting all the points,” Buesching said. “It was a fantastic experience.”
The first 24 minutes were dominant for Kirkwood.
After Buesching’s goal to open the contest, the teams traded tallies to make it a 3-2 Pioneers lead 4 minutes, 25 seconds in.
Three minutes nearly elapsed before Buesching found the back of the cage on successive shots 1:25 apart to fuel a 6-0 run that gave Kirkwood a comfortable 9-2 lead after one quarter.
“Today, we just came out slow and we could never get our head back above water,” Striler said. “The last few games, we’ve been able to flip the switch pretty quick after going down three goals, but today that team was winning all the 50/50 battles and other groundballs. They straight-up outworked us.”
When the two teams met in the regular season on May 2, the Pioneers beat the Rams 9-6. Kirkwood matched its goal output of that entire contest in the first 12 minutes Friday.
“I don’t know, I think it’s just whenever it’s the state final, you want it a little bit different,” Buesching said. “It’s a whole different atmosphere. It’s a lot harder to come out like we did today any random day of the week. I feel like the team really answered the call for the state final.”
Ladue tallied the first goal of the second quarter, but Kirkwood ripped off four more in succession to bring the overall run to 10-1 and the lead to 13-3.
After the Rams scored to briefly slow down the run, Buesching tallied his fourth goal of the first half to give the Pioneers a 14-4 lead at the half on their way to a season-high 20 goals.
“We just felt like we were gonna keep shooting as long as we were taking good shots,” Luckett said. “That’s what we worked on for the last few days and it just worked out.”
Ladue outscored Kirkwood 3-2 in the third quarter and 7-6 in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly enough to dig out of their early hole.
The Rams, who won their only MSLA title in 2010, need only to look at their opponent Friday for an example of how to turn a state final loss one season into a championship the next.
“That’s the hope,” Striler said. “Hopefully, we learned something. Hopefully, the young kids are hungrier now to make this happen again.”
Buesching, meanwhile, plans to attend the University of Missouri next year but not play any sports.
“I’m probably gonna be a rec-league warrior at Mizzou. Probably a four-time intramural basketball champion. That’s what I’m looking at,” he said. “I knew this was gonna be my last game coming in. To be able to go out with a bang means everything.”
MSLA Class 1 boys final: Kirkwood 20, Ladue 11
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue’s Charlie Rosenbloom (8) moves the ball defended by Kirkwood’s Luke Watson (46) in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue’s Jacob Goldstein (34) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Kirkwood, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates a goal in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue’s Jacob Goldstein (34) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates defeating Ladue in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Chris Phillips (3) and Ryan Buesching (69) celebrate a goal in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Cooper Terry (18) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Evan Cleveland (9) moves the ball defended by Ladue’s Aiden Goldstein (23) in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Will Jensen (24) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue celebrates a goal in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Kirkwood, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue’s Charlie Rosenbloom (8) makes a pass in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Kirkwood, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Ryan Buesching (69) passes in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Evan Cleveland (9) moves the ball defended by Ladue’s Aiden Goldstein (23) in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Cooper Terry (18) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Ladue’s Will Taylor (1) moves the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Kirkwood, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Graden Jansen (16) and Ladue’s Jacob Goldstein (34) face off in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship game, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates a goal in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Will Jensen (24) carries the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood celebrates a goal in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Evan Cleveland (9) takes a shot in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Will Jensen (24) carries the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
Kirkwood’s Branson Appelman (28) carries the ball in the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 1 championship against Ladue, Friday, May 26, 2023, at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Michael Gulledge
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