LIVONIA — One thing you might notice at a Madonna University men’s lacrosse game is that it’s hard to keep up the blistering pace. That holds true regardless of whether you’re a spectator, stat keeper, or — especially — an opposing team.
Against third-ranked Aquinas College on March 18, the Crusaders jumped out to a 6-2 lead before the match was eight minutes old, and rolled to a 14-11 win. Against honorable-mention Lawrence Tech on March 21, Madonna notched an eight-goal first quarter and led by 10 at the half, eventually winning 22-6. And the Crusaders piled on even more goals while dealing seventh-ranked Indiana Tech their worst defeat in program history, 24-10, on March 25.
It’s play like that which has earned the suburban Detroit Catholic university a No. 1 ranking among National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools. In the latest poll released March 25, Madonna (9-1, 5-0 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference) received a first-place vote on every ballot.
“I think at this point in the year we’re where we want to be,” head coach Carlos Matta said. “We’re playing fast, we’re playing aggressive, which is exactly how I want us to play on both sides of the ball.”
Four of the Crusaders’ nine victories this spring have come decisively against schools ranked in the top 10 — Aquinas, Cumberlands (Ky.), Indiana Tech and Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. The only loss was a 17-16 contest on Feb. 14 against Davenport University, a former WHAC rival which is now playing at the NCAA Division 2 level.
Last year, the Crusaders led the nation in goals, assists, shooting percentage and turnovers caused while advancing to the NAIA Tournament semifinals. The team is just as potent this spring, scoring an average of 22.7 goals per game. That ranks only behind Benedictine (Ks.) College, a team which they held to just four goals when the two schools last met, in Livonia last season.
“I think our guys do a great job of executing for the most part, and it’s something that we’re hopefully going to improve on throughout the course of the year. The guys did a great job of that today, especially,” Matta said following Wednesday’s victory. “The guys have done a really good job at playing our style of lacrosse; they’re really good teammates, a lot of assisted goals; they’re not trying to do it by themselves. They’re letting the ‘we’ goals happen — winning on the scoreboard and not trying to get their own goals.”
One reason Madonna has gotten stronger this year is an influx of transfers from other programs that have fallen on hard times. Concordia University of Ann Arbor closed at the end of the last academic year, while two other Catholic universities and WHAC members, Siena Heights University and Lourdes (Oh.) University, will do the same this spring.
The new players have blended in seamlessly with the returning veterans and the new recruits.
“It’s my first year with these guys, and I couldn’t wish for any better,” senior attack Cooper Regimbal said. “The one thing I was always worried about coming in was how was it going to be, relationship-wise, with the team. These guys are through-and-through a brotherhood, that’s what it is. It was a direct inject from Concordia to here. The boys are wonderful; we’ve got faces from everywhere. This is the place to be.”
Redshirt junior attack Benjamin Reidy had an even more roundabout path to finding a home at Madonna. He was born in Ireland (“There’s no lacrosse scene out there,” he said) and his family emigrated to Canada in 2012.
“I played a lot of box lacrosse up there,” he said. “Then I was working up north on a pipeline and I got an email from Lourdes University asking me to come down. I played at Lourdes for a year, and our head coach left, so I got a call from (assistant coach and offensive coordinator) Tyler Pezzot — he moved over to Madonna — and he said, 'Come play at Madonna.' It’s just history from there.”
Both are figuring prominently in Madonna’s offensive attack, along with other top players Rico Hart, Jackson Gradstein, Reid Dunavant, Spencer Guppy and Ross Preston.
“We just have a phenomenal offensive scheme,” said Reidy, who netted five goals and four assists against Indiana Tech. “We have so many weapons on this offense. We’ve got six dogs on the field at all times, a lot of mouths to feed, and these guys are just phenomenal. Great coaching and great guys — it makes the game easy.”
“We always come out, and we’re like foot-on-the-gas, coming out there and shocking them right away. It lights a candle when we get on them early, and after that it’s just reps,” said Regimbal, who scored six times against Indiana Tech.
“We just want to play a fun brand of lacrosse,” Matta said. “For us, we think the most fun way for us to play lacrosse is just in the most organic way, which is pedal to the metal, and make decisions. If the defense makes mistakes, we can take advantage of them. It doesn’t matter if we’re settled or in transition. Whatever it is in the pace of play, we’re going to try to score goals whenever we can.”
While Matta admitted there are still a few things to clean up, he and the players have their sights set on big things before the season ends in May.
“We keep telling the guys that we’re not a finished product,” he said, “and we have things to continue to work on and improve on in order to where we want to be — which is playing the last game of the year, and hopefully winning the last game of the year.”
