Box Score LIVONIA, Mich. – The (RV) Lawrence Technological University men's lacrosse team ends their 2019 regular season with a huge 14-11 upset of the No. 2 team in the nation, Madonna University, on April 20.
Four Blue Devils had a stand out night against the Madonna Crusaders, grabbing three points. Jacob Flood and Justin Light grabbed three goals while Aidan Nolan grabbed two goals and one assist and Dyla Couture had one goal and two assists. Alex Schlueter grabbed two points on the night with a goal and an assist. Brendan Oles, Nik Kubik, Brendan Mullins, and Damian Hudson each had a goal while Maveric Muscat had one assist. In net, Joel Trent stood his ground with 15 saves. Wyatt Nedbal had five ground balls while Kubik led the team with seven.
Both teams were battling throughout, with the Crusaders winning 14 of the 26 face offs and taking one more shot than the Blue Devils. Despite this, the Blue Devils pulled out the win with finding the back of the net more often and grabbing nearly ten more ground balls than Madonna.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lawrence Tech dominated the first quarter as they have most of the season against their opponents. They started the game with a goal from Light, with Madonna on their tail responding for the first two goals, keeping the game tied until the last four minutes of the quarter. Couture added a goal, while Light found the goal again to pull ahead. Then on a man-up opportunity, Aidan Nolan skirted on past the Crusader goal, which moments later was followed up by a goal from Flood, fed by Couture, ending the period, with LTU up 5-3.
The next quarter saw a three goal run by Madonna before LTU could respond in the form of Hudson and then, minutes later, by the stick of Flood. While they kept their lead for most of the quarter, Madonna, once again, pulled out a goal in the last few minutes of the quarter, going into the second half tied 7-7. However, with the help of Trent's eight saves in the second, the Blue Devils did not let the Crusaders take a huge lead and kept the game close.
Another tight quarter was in store for each team. The Blue Devils took the reins and found three in a row, including two man-up opportunities, the first from Light, with an assist from Couture and a second with a goal from Nolan assisted by Schlueter. However, Madonna had some power left in the tank to add two quick goals in under two minutes of the quarter to put them down one 10-9.
The Blue Devils then took off in the final quarter, opening the last part of the game with a goal from Schlueter in the first three minutes. Then, off a face off, Nik Kubik got a quick go ahead goal from the stick Nolan, steaming their team ahead 12-9. However, a quick Madonna mistake led to a man-up goal from Mullins, fed by Muscat in the final 10 minutes of the game. Then, the Blue Devils faltered and gave the Crusaders a chance to come back with a man – up opportunity of their own, which they capitalized on, moving to be down by three. Yet, Oles found his groove and added one last goal to the mix, pushing Lawrence Tech to be up 14-10. Despite one final goal from the Crusader's in the last minute of the game, the Blue Devils gave Madonna only their third loss of the season with the 14-11 loss.
With this win, the Blue Devils finish the regular season third in the WHAC, which means they will be hosting No. 6 Lourdes on Tuesday, April 23rd at 5 p.m. to open the WHAC tournament. The last time these two teams met, Lawrence Tech narrowly pulled off an 8-7 win in overtime.
