#20 Madonna Too Much Down the Stretch for Men's Soccer

(Livonia, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's soccer team was on the road to take on the #20 ranked Madonna University Crusaders in a WHAC battle Wednesday afternoon.

Madonna would be in control of the game from the opening kickoff, and maintained possession in the Cougars' defensive half for most of the opening 45 minutes.  Cleary's defense was up to the task, and the first half would end scoreless.

In the second half, a free kick from a dangerous area just outside the penalty area found the head of a Crusader player, and his shot beat goalie Austin Freemire, hit off the inside of the left post, and found it's way into the back of the net, to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute.  Still trailing 1-0 in the 79th minute, the Crusaders doubled their lead on a corner kick goal to take a 2-0 lead, and just five minutes later, sealed the deal on a goal that was put in after Freemire stopped the initial shot, to make the score 3-0.

Austin Freemire was excellent in the game, making 15 saves on 18 shots faced.  The 15 saves was a career high for Freemire.  Madonna outshot Cleary 33-2 in the game, and held a 19-1 advantage on corner kicks.  Cleary committed 22 fouls to Madonna's 3 in the contest.

The loss drops Cleary's record to 7-7-1 overall, 4-4-1 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will remain road warriors for their next game on Sunday, October 20, when they travel to Southfield to take on the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils for a 3:00 PM kickoff.