LIVONIA, Mich - Madonna took control early and never let up Wednesday afternoon, rolling past Michigan-Dearborn 28-8 in a lacrosse matchup. The Crusaders built a 4-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, stretched the margin with seven more goals in the second, then effectively decided the game with an 11-goal third quarter.
The decisive stretch came after halftime. Madonna opened the third quarter with a goal from
Matthew DiSalle at 14:46 to make it 12-5, then kept pressing until the score ballooned to 22-6 by the 3:01 mark on a man-up goal from
Cooper Regimbal, assisted by
Ross Preston. Madonna's advantage showed up across the stat sheet. The Crusaders outshot Michigan-Dearborn 70-30, held a 44-16 edge in shots on goal, won the faceoff battle 30-10 and collected 49 ground balls to the Wolverines' 14.
Ross Preston led Madonna's attack with four goals and four assists, including a man-down goal at 5:59 of the third quarter off a feed from
Jackson Gradstein. Gradstein added four goals and one assist, while
Rico Hart finished with three goals and two assists. Madonna totaled 18 assists on 28 goals, a sign of the ball movement that kept Michigan-Dearborn on the defensive throughout the afternoon.
Madonna set the tone from the opening minutes.
Cooper Regimbal scored the game's first goal at 14:28 of the first quarter on an assist from
Spencer Guppy. Michigan-Dearborn answered when Cooper Hallwood cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:47, but the Crusaders closed the quarter strong, including a late goal by
DeMario Williams at 1:48 for a 4-1 edge. In the second quarter,
Rico Hart converted a man-up chance at 13:36 off a Preston assist, and Madonna kept enough separation even as Michigan-Dearborn got goals from Jeremy Fancett and Gabriel De La Paz.
Michigan-Dearborn found occasional offense from several contributors. Reece Rath scored twice, Jeremy Fancett added two goals, and Garrett Kern converted a power-play goal at 1:11 of the third quarter off an assist from Cole Rosenwald. But Madonna continued to answer, adding six more goals in the fourth quarter, including
Andrew Marszalek's score at 14:21 and a man-up goal from
Marcus Villagomez at 10:23, assisted by
Makian Chamblis.
Madonna also controlled possession and the game's smaller battles. The Crusaders committed 18 turnovers compared with 24 for Michigan-Dearborn, and they received eight saves while limiting the visitors to eight goals on 30 shots. Michigan-Dearborn goalkeeper play was busy throughout, finishing with 16 saves against the Crusaders' 44 shots on goal. The final goal came from Rath with 2:56 left in the fourth quarter, setting the final margin at 28-8.
