St. Ambrose saw its most successful season to date come to an end with a 10-6 loss to Saint Mary (Kan.) in the semifinals of the KCAC Tournament Thursday afternoon.

The Bees finish the year with an 8-7 record, the first winning season in program history. SAU also finished second in the conference with a 4-2 league mark.

The season nearly included a spot in the conference tournament title game. SAU outshot Saint Mary 42-35 and held a lead in the third quarter.

Myles Leyden helped the Bees get off to a fast start, scoring the game's first goal just over two minutes in. Less than a minute later he assisted on Josh Bales' goal that extended the lead to 2-0.

Nic Calabria added an unassisted goal to make the score 3-1. Saint Mary (10-5) scored late in the first quarter and had the only two goals of the second to take a 4-3 lead into halftime.

Thomas Kelly and Matt Romero scored the first two goals of the third period to push St. Ambrose back in front 5-4 with six minutes to play in the frame. At the time, SAU held a 34-21 edge in shots, and had three shots hit off the post and one off the crossbar.

The Spires closed the third with two goals to retake a 6-5 lead. They then sealed their spot in the KCAC championship match by scoring three straight to start the fourth to build a 9-5 advantage with under seven minutes to go.

Romero scored his second goal of the day before Saint Mary tacked on a last goal in the final four minutes to account for the final score.

Louis Mallillin was credited with 16 saves, seven of those coming in the opening quarter to help the Bees to the fast start.