BRIGHTON, Mich. – The Madonna University women's lacrosse team was back in action on Thursday, March 16, as they fell 14-9 to the Cougars of Cleary University. The game was originally scheduled as a Wednesday afternoon home contest, but was played at the Legacy Center in Brighton due to inclement weather.
The loss drops the first year Crusaders to 0-2 while the Cougars improve to 1-2.
The Cougars jumped out to a 4-0 advantage within the first five minutes of the opening half. This deficit proved to be too much for the Crusaders to overcome.
Briana Warner (FR/Comstock Park, Mich.) put the Crusaders on the board with the first goal of her collegiate career with just under 21 minutes to play in the first half. Warner also added the second Crusader goal with 14:37 remaining in the half. Warner finished with two goals, two ground balls and two draw controls.
Emily Johnson (SR/Grandville, Mich.) also found the back of the net as she converted on three of her five attempts. Two of her goals came within five minutes of each other in the first half. This shrunk the Crusader deficit to just one before the Cougars responded with two unanswered goals to end the period.
After Cleary opened the second half with two more tallies, Samantha Schwartz(FR/Oxford, Mich.) ended the run with a golf of her own. Johnson's third goal came just six minutes later and cut the Cougars' lead to four, 10-6.
Jordyn Shepler (SR/Livonia, Mich.) and Sarah Carlson (SR/Romulus, Mich.) added two of the final three Crusader goals before Schwartz again found the back of the net to bring MU to within three scores, 12-9, but two more CU goals accounted for the 14-9 margin.
The Crusaders set numerous program records in the game including number of goals scored. Emily Johnson also set the record for individual goals scored in a game with three.
The Crusaders are back in action on Saturday, March 18 for their Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opener as they welcome the Cardinals of Concordia University to the Madonna Athletics Complex. The opening draw is set for 3 p.m.
CONNECT WITH THE CRUSADERS: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW: Text & Email Alerts
DOWNLOAD OUR MOBILE APPS: iOS (iPhone/iPad) | Android
DOWNLOAD TEAM SCHEDULES: Download Center
