GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - - Down 2-1 at halftime and down a man after a red card was issued, the Madonna men's soccer team rallied to put up three unanswered goals and take home a 4-2 win at Davenport on Saturday.
Madonna (5-1-0; 3-0) had early scoring chances but could not convert before DU's Rory Scott took a through ball and beat MU's Steven Besk for a 1-0 lead at the 23:34 mark of the contest.
The Crusaders tied the match at 1-1 in the 36th minute when Mark Pikula took a ball that the Panthers' Jack Owens mishandled that let Pikula then pushed around Owens for the tying goal.
The Panthers made it 2-1 with just 13 ticks left in the half on a Lewis Robinson score off of a corner kick to give DU the lead.
MU's Cory Maupin was issued a red card as the halftime intermission began, forcing the Crusaders to play the match down a man for the remainder of the contest.
Coming out the half, it seems a different MU team emerged. After seeing DU take the momentum into the break, the Crusaders took the offensive at the Panthers and the attack paid off as Emilio Giorgi scored just 2:05 into the half on a cross from Otieno Victor to square the match at 2-2.
Giorgi then provided the game winner a little over three minutes later as Pikula played a through ball behind the DU backline that Giorgi got a foot onto and shot past Jeremy Novakoski to make it 3-2.
Freshman Corbin Titus - who missed the Concordia game on Wednesday with an injury - provided the final MU tally at the 67:48 mark as he took a long pass from Jacob Rosiek and sent his shot past a diving Novakoski for a 4-2 MU lead.
The Panthers had two chances to score late, but Besk was up to the challenge, making the stops for his eighth and ninth saves of the day. MU out shot DU 18-17 and held a 12-11 edge in shots on goal.
The Crusaders return to the pitch on Wednesday night in a 7pm match at Indiana Tech.
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