Crusaders Fall Just Short In Tourney Opener
Soccer ends the season at 14-4-2

Nov.
14, 2007

Makesi Lewis and the Madonna men's soccer team fell 2-1 to Embry Riddle at the NAIA National Tournament on Wednesday.

BOX SCORE 

OLATHE, Kan.
– The Madonna men’s soccer team made history on Wednesday as they became the first MU men’s team in any sport to appear at a national tournament. Unfortunately, the Crusaders came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision at the hands of Embry Riddle.

ERU got on the board early, scoring in the second minute of the match as Phil Middleton took advantage of a poor clear by the Madonna defense after goalie Kris Lyons collided with Dan Pichler inside the six-yard box and Middleton found himself alone with the ball and an open net and gave Embry Riddle a 1-0 lead.

The two sides battled back and forth for most of the first half with the time of possession being close to even, but MU took advantage of a lucky break of their own as Darrel Quinn collected a missed shot off the foot of Doron Drai that bounced off the cross bar and buried his shot near post to square the match at 1-1.

In the first half ERU out shot MU 8-5, while shots on goal were even at three each. The Eagles held a 3-1 edge in corners in the first 45 minutes.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, Daniel Amaya had MU’s first chance of the second half as his shot from just outside the six-yard box that was snared by the ERU keeper Ian Levine to keep the match tied at one.

Embry Riddle un-tied the match in the 68th minute as Hugh Davey found himself with the ball alone on the left side of the penalty area and fired his shot to the far post past a diving Lyons for the second and last goal of the match. MU’s last chance came in the 89th minute as Emilio Giorgi got a head on a Drai corner but his shot was punched out by Levine and the match ended at 2-1 in favor of Embry Riddle.

For the match, ERU out shot MU 16-9, but held just a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. ERU also won the battle of the corner kicks 5-2.

The Crusaders, who captured the NAIA Region VIII crown for the first time in program history, end the year at 14-4-2.

NAIA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT INFO

Contact:
Patrick Moore - Sports Information Director
(734) 432-5834