LIVONIA, Mich.- The Madonna University men's soccer team claimed the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference championship with their dominant 4-0 win over Cornerstone University at the Madonna Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon. This is the sixth time in program history the Crusaders have won back-to-back conference titles and their 10th title in program history. The win brings MU to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in WHAC play while the Golden Eagles fall to 8-9-1 on the season and 7-4 in league action.

Madonna will be the top seed in the WHAC tournament which begins Saturday, Nov. 3 with an opponent and time to be determined.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• First Half

  • It was cold and wet conditions from the start of the game which made the ball move quickly and the Crusaders took advantage of it early. Just nine minutes in, Yuri Farkas Guglielmi hit a well struck cross into the box  and found Leonardo Gois Abonizio's head that redirected into the net for the first goal of the game and the game-winner.

  • In the 32nd minute Abonizio set Farkas up well for a strong shot that deflected off a Cornerstone defender and in for the second of the game.

  • The Blue and Gold defense did their job well, with goalkeeper Joe Smith not having to make a save in the first half.

• Second Half

  • Madonna showed their depth in the second half, all making a positive impact for the Crusaders.

  • In the 72nd minute, Costa Wells made a great run down the left hand side and crossed it into Kyle Tinnion who slammed the ball into the back of the net for the third goal.

  • Nine minutes later Tinnion struck again, this time off a pass from Kazuya Odawara. Tinnion did a step-over to get past his defender and struck the ball hard off of the diving keeper's hands and into the goal for his second and fourth goal of the game to end the scoring.

INSIDE THE BOX

• Madonna dominated the shot category with 21 to Cornerstone's three, and also nine on goal to the Golden Eagles' one.

• Farkas led the Crusaders in shots with six with Abonizio behind him with five. Tinnion, Wagner Gameiro Febbe, Marlon Freitas and Rodrigo Castro De Siqueira all had two shots each.

• Tinnion's two goals made it four on the season for him. Farkas added another goal to his 19 total and Abonizio scored his second of the season.

• Smith, Madonna's keeper, made just one save on the day and recorded his seventh clean sheet.

UP NEXT

• Madonna, the tournaments top seed, knows it will host a quarterfinal contest on Saturday, Nov. 3 but the opponent and time have yet to be determined.

• Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.    

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