Madonna University Athletics

LIVONIA, Mich. - Keitaro Kawai scored at 15:55 off an assist from Pedro Zucchi to lift Madonna University (7-3-4) to a 1-0 conference soccer victory over Indiana Tech (10-3-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Livonia. Goalkeeper Afonso Henrique recorded eight saves for the shutout.

The Crusaders generated pressure early, with Haruki Onishi putting a shot on target at 1:33 that Marvin Kopp saved. Henrique stopped Zak El Hannach at 12:23 before Kawai converted what proved to be the winner on Kawai's only shot of the match. Kaito Hashimoto tested Kopp again at 20:02 as Madonna built a 9-5 first-half advantage in shots.

Henrique protected the lead through a series of chances for Robin Vezinhet late in the half. Henrique saved Vezinhet's header at 34:37, stopped another attempt one minute later and denied Vezinhet again at 44:18. Those three stops brought Henrique's first-half total to four and sent the Crusaders into halftime ahead 1-0.

Daniel Watkins forced a save from Kopp at 55:35, but Indiana Tech held a 7-3 shot advantage after halftime. Henrique answered with stops against Federico Confaloni at 57:25 and Gui Moreira at 65:03, the latter shortly after a corner kick. Another corner preceded Ryan Henry's attempt at 77:10, which Henrique saved before denying Fabian Hauer at 80:54 for the final stop of the shutout.

Juan Villarreal led Madonna with three shots, while Zucchi and Lucas Schoenberger added two apiece. Schoenberger delivered the Crusaders' final attempt at 87:56, forcing Kopp's sixth save. Both teams finished with 12 shots, with Indiana Tech holding an 8-7 edge in shots on goal and Madonna earning an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Henrique played all 90 minutes and improved to 7-2-4 in goal. The victory kept the Crusaders unbeaten in conference play at 5-0-2, while Indiana Tech finished the match at 3-2-1 in the conference.

The Crusaders will be back in action on Saturday, October 17th as the travel to Defiance, Ohio to take on the Yellowjackets of Defiance College. Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM.