Madonna kickers eliminated, 4-1

The Madonna University men's soccer team's improbable run to the 2011 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship opening round came to an abrupt end on Saturday night with a 4-1 loss at the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) at Davis Field.

Rio Grande, the No. 5 national seed, scored a pair of goals in each half to earn the victory while improving to 18-2 overall and securing a spot in the Sweet 16.

The Crusaders were dealt a blow when all-conference defender Franco Giorgi went down just minutes into the match and missed the balance of the contest with a lower body injury.

Rio Grande got on the board in the 10th minute when Joel Thiessen finished off a rebound of a Rafael Maccauro shot for a 1-0 lead.

The nation's leading scorer, Richard Isberner, then made it 2-0 with his 28th goal of the season in the 25th minute to stake the home side to a 2-0 lead at intermission.

Madonna had a chance to get on the board in the 55th minute when freshman Ryan Williams struck a hard shot in on Jack Marchant, but the Red Storm goalkeeper just knocked the ball over the bar to keep MU off the board.

The Red Storm added two more goals for a 4-0 lead before freshman Nick Atwood (Livonia Stevenson) broke up the shutout with his first career goal in the 81st minute after finishing off a lead pass from junior striker Dane Laird (Farmington Harrison).

I am really proud of how the team kept competing all game, MU coach Eric Scott said. Derek (Rosiek) and Cayle (Lackten) really stepped up when Franco (Giorgi) went down. This was Derek's best game in a Madonna uniform. I thought Dane (Laird) was fantastic today, especially in our goal sequence.''

Junior goalkeeper Adrian Motta (Livonia Churchill) made 10 saves for the Crusaders, who closed the season with a 7-9-5 overall record after advancing to the program's third NAIA tournament since 2007.

MU bids good-bye to just one senior, defender Andrew Kidder (Macomb Lutheran North).

I have a tremendous amount of respect for o! ur only senior,'' Scott said. I've had the privilege of coaching him the last four years and I am incredibly indebted to Drew for coming with me two years ago when we started here.''