LIVONIA, Mich.- The Madonna University men's soccer team suffered a tough loss to the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at the Madonna Athletics Complex. The loss eliminates the Crusaders from the conference tournament, but does not end their season as the Crusaders await the reveal of their NAIA opening round opponent, while the Blue Devils will face Indiana Tech University in the WHAC tournament championship.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half

• There was not much offense on either side in the first 45 minutes of play, although the Crusaders outshot the Blue Devils 6-1 in the half.
• The Crusaders best chance of the half came in the 39th minute off the head of Yuri Farkas Guglielmi as he just missed a header wide of the goal to keep the score knotted at 0-0.

Second Half

• Just four minutes into the second half, LTU found the back of the net thanks to a cross that was deflected in front and landed on the foot of a Blue Devil forward who blasted the shot past Joe Smith for a 1-0 lead.
• The Crusaders immediately began applying offensive pressure, but were not able even the score. In the 82nd minute, Tavon Barnes found himself with a fantastic opportunity just outside the box, although the Lawrence Tech keeper made a magnificent diving save to preserve the lead for his squad.
• Despite an offensive onslaught in the final minutes of the game, MU was not able to even the score and Lawrence Tech completed the upset with a 1-0 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX

• Madonna dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the Blue Devils 14-3 in the game, seven of which were on frame for the Crusaders and all three were on goal for LTU.
• MU earned seven corner kicks compared to just one for LTU, but the Blue Devil keeper stopped all seven shots on goal, while Smith saved two of the three that came his way.
• Farkas and Marlon De Freitas led the MU offense with two shots on goal each, while five other Crusaders added to the total.

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders now await their placement in the NAIA Opening Round, which will be revealed on Nov. 12 via Facebook live at www.facebook.com/playnaia.
• Live coverage links will be made available at www.mucrusaders.com.

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