BEVERLY HILLS, Mich.— The Montreat men's lacrosse team kicked off its 2025 season Friday night with a nonconference matchup against the No. 10-ranked Madonna University Crusaders. Playing indoors up in Beverly Hills, Mich., the Cavaliers couldn't keep pace with the home side as they dropped the opener via a 22-7 final score.
Madonna (1-0) wasted no time jumping out in front of the visitors. The Crusaders notched a pair of goals within the initial 2:01 of the contest to secure a 2-0 lead.
D'Andrae McKenzie helped pull the Cavs within a goal a few minutes later when he deposited a shot into the netting for the squad's first tally of the campaign. MU responded swiftly, however, notching five consecutive strikes to possess a 7-1 advantage through 15 minutes of play.
Two additional goals ran Madonna's lead up to 9-1 before
Carlos Montoya registered his first goal as a Cavalier just 2:12 into the second frame. McKenzie beat the MU goalkeeper again with 9:11 remaining in the opening half, but five supplementary Crusader goals ensured the hosts maintained a double-digit lead entering halftime (13-3).
Like it did in the first two periods, Madonna opened the scoring account in the third quarter.
Eli King set up
Justin Holland roughly 30 seconds later, cutting the Montreat deficit to 14-4, but the Crusaders had another answer. The hosts scored four straight times to close out the third, and they entered the final 15 minutes of action with an 18-4 lead.
The Cavs saved their best offensive showing for the fourth quarter, pouring in three goals to try and combat MU's four tallies. King found the back of the net twice, while Holland also recorded his second goal of the evening. Both
Gavin Mottram and
Garrett Thomson garnered the first assists of their Montreat careers as well; however, Madonna still held the upper hand, and it closed out a 22-7 win in its home state.
The Crusaders attempted more shots (53-20) and shots on goal (35-16) than their counterparts. They also totaled more clears (30-23), ground balls (45-27) and caused turnovers (18-4) while committing 13 fewer miscues (35-20). Meanwhile, both teams won 15 faceoffs.
King's two goals and one assist saw him lead the squad with five points. McKenzie and Holland also scored twice, while Montoya paced the team with 13 ground balls.
Jay Chance made 13 saves in net.
Montreat is back in action tomorrow night versus the University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolverines. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Beverly Hills, Mich.
