The North Greenville Crusaders put up a solid fight against the Limestone Saints, currently ranked 5th in the nation, with a final score of 13-10 in Gaffney, SC. NGU was outscored by just one goal in three of the four quarters, with the 4th quarter resulting in two goals each. A penalty-filled game saw NGU have eight man-up opportunities, but only two of those opportunities would result in a goal. Devin Napoli and Thomas Cecere both led North Greenville with three goals each. 

Results

• Score: NGU 10 / LU 13
• Location: Saints Field / Gaffney, SC
• Records: NGU 0-3 / LU 2-0

Recap

• Defense proved to be strong for both teams early on as no goals would be scored in the first five minutes. However, that would change when the Saints officially got themselves on the board with a man-up goal. Not even 20 seconds would go by before NGU evened up the score with a goal by Corey Long. Approximately halfway into the opening quarter, the Crusaders would get their first lead as Thomas Cecere scored his 7th goal of the season. Devin Napoli would follow that up with a goal of his own to put NGU up 3-1. That would wake up Limestone, however, as the Saints would respond with three unanswered goals to get back in the lead. A goal by Austin Zumbado would even things up at 4-4 before LU put up one final goal to end the quarter. 
• A lower-scoring 2nd quarter would see the Crusaders score first as Thomas Cecere would even the game once again with a man-up goal. Defense would be the story in the majority of the quarter, but Limestone was eventually able to find the back of the net twice, going into halftime with a 7-5 lead.
• Nearly four minutes into the 3rd quarter, the Saints would start to pull away by scoring three straight goals in just a one minute span to lead 10-5. However, the Crusaders refused to go away quietly as they would score three out of the next four goals, two scored by Devin Napoli and the final scored by Thomas Cecere. The 3rd quarter would end with the Saints leading 11-8.
• After a goal by LU nearly two minutes into the 4th, NGU would put up one last fight with goals by Alex Brooks and Brendan Sullivan to pull within two. However, a late goal by Limestone would seemingly put the game on ice. The Crusaders would put up several shots in the last few minutes but would come up empty.

Individual

• Thomas Cecere had another solid performance, scoring 3 goals out of 11 shots along with 2 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Devin Napoli also scored 3 goals out of 8 shots with 2 ground balls. 
• Joe Amici recorded 9 saves at goalkeeper.

Upcoming

• Up next, the Crusaders will face the Lander Bearcats on Wednesday, February 24th in Greenwood, SC.