Men's Lacrosse Comes Alive in Second Half to Beat Crusaders

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of David Donoher (@Daviddonoher)

LIVONIA, Mich. – The top-ranked Eagles and Crusaders have a history of competing in slugfests on the lacrosse field, and Monday afternoon was no different in Michigan, as Reinhardt outlasted Madonna thanks to a strong fourth period in a 10-6 victory.

The hometown club (4-0) once again turned up the pressure when it needed to and responded after falling behind, 3-2, moments into the second half. The Eagles then scored three-straight goals to move back in front, 5-3, at the end of the third quarter – and then doubled their tallies in the fourth stanza (5 netted shots) to pull away late.

"A really tough "gut-check" win today by my guys," head coach John Snow said. "It was a dog fight right from the opening whistle – a lot of credit to Madonna – they were extremely physical and forced us to play a little bit undisciplined. Proud of how my guys regrouped at halftime and made some adjustments to execute in the second half.

"I thought Dillan Bousquet played very well, and Gavin Banks was able to find the back of the net three times. Defense played well and our face-off guy, JR Sess, was big in the second half. Now, we have to get ready to play a very good Indiana Tech team."

The smash-mouth battle was low-scoring in the first 30 minutes, as it even took nearly half of the opening quarter for someone to update the scoreboard – Dillan Bousquet on a man-up opportunity – and then Conner Mills doubled the advantage with 5:07 left in the first.

The Crusaders were able to get on the board in the final minute of the first period, and then held Reinhardt scoreless in the second quarter while earning a point of their own to tie the game, 2-2, heading into the intermission.

Twenty-six seconds into the third period is when Madonna got its first lead of the afternoon, but as the quarter continued, the Crusaders would fall behind once again after three-straight goals from the visitors compliments of Bousquet, Zane Anderson and Gavin Banks.

Both offenses would really come to life over the final 15 minutes of action, as the first momentum swing came from the Crusaders after they tied the score again at 5-5 following two goals in-a-row to start the fourth.

The Eagles would respond in a big way, however, by rising up with a 5-0 run on scoring combinations from Bousquet, Banks and Tyler Wilkinson for a 10-5 cushion with 6:33 left in regulation.

Madonna would only manage one more tally as Reinhardt held strong the rest of the way.

Bousquet four goals (five shots) and Banks (three scores) highlighted the offensive effort for the hometown bunch.

The Eagles picked up 25 ground balls, led by Carter Maurice with five, and forced 16 Crusader miscues.

Matt Webb is now 4-0 on the year after making eight stops in 60 minutes in the goal.

The team now gets a day off as it travels to Indiana Tech to take on the fourth-ranked Warriors on Wednesday at Noon.

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For more information on Reinhardt Men's Lacrosse, please click here.