Williamsburg, KY – The third-ranked UC men's lacrosse team couldn't overcome a 33-minute scoreless drought as they fell to top-ranked Madonna 12-6 Saturday afternoon at the UC Lacrosse/Soccer Complex.  With the win the Crusaders improve to 6-0, while Patriots move to 7-3 on the season.

The Patriots struck first as Nick DiFranco forced a Madonna turnover and on the ensuing transition Jake Mitchell found Alex Heckler for the goal to give UC a 1-0 lead.  Madonna evened the score before Henry Quaye scooped the ground ball, off the ensuing faceoff, and netted an unassisted goal to make it 2-1 with 13:30 remaining.  Kody Swann added another faceoff win with Caleb Elerick capitalizing with an unassisted goal to push UC's lead to 3-1.  Madonna netted a pair of goals to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the first period.  UC looked to retake the lead however Tyler Dohmeier made four of his nine saves to keep the game even.  With under a minute remaining Preston Brooks fired a shot towards the cage, ricochet off a Madonna player and bounce into the cage for a goal to give the Patriots a 4-3 advantage.

Madonna controlled possession over the second and third quarter outscoring the Patriots 7-0 and outshooting UC 27-10 during that span.  The Crusaders netted four unanswered goals in the first seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 7-4 lead.  Will Settle was subbed into the contest and made five of his game-high ten saves in the quarter to limited Madonna to an 8-4 edge at the break.  Ryan Flaherty and Henry Dyson each added a goal in the third quarter to extend Madonna's lead to 10-4.

Cumberlands looked to rally in the fourth quarter and on their first possession Crouch found Justin Darley in front of the cage for a goal to cut the deficit to 10-5 with 13:39 remaining.  After a Crusaders goal, Crouch bounce a shot into the back of the cage to make it 11-6 with 5:57 remaining.  That was the closest UC came as Madonna added a goal in the final seconds for the 12-6 final.

Crouch led the way for the Patriots with a goal and an assist along with four ground balls.  DiFranco recorded five caused turnovers and ten ground balls in the game, while Swann went 10-22 on faceoffs with four ground balls.  Jaret Williamson and Bryan Morgan combined four caused turnovers and five ground balls.

The Patriots return to the field Tuesday, March 26, when they travel to Athens, TN to face Tennessee Wesleyan in an AAC showdown.  The game is slated for 3 p.m. with live video available here.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots, Instagram - @UCPatriots, SnapChat - @UC_Patriots, YouTube – Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.