by Sports Information Student Assistant Zach Bigger

GEORGETOWN, Texas - In a game where the conditions were bad, the Trine University men’s lacrosse team managed to eke out an 8-7 victory to pick up their first win of the young season against Southwestern University (0-5). After dominating Southwestern in the previous two times they had played in the series, it took the full 60 minutes this time around in a game which Trine never trailed as they moved to 1-1 on the season.

A slow start last year led to a 5-0 deficit early, but with a new season the Thunder came out firing this time around, scoring a goal just 49 seconds into the game. The lead would eventually extend to 4-0 just 12 seconds into the second quarter, all of which came off of quick shots in a game where both sides struggled (55 combined turnovers) with the heavy downpour of rain throughout the contest.

Southwestern would stop the bleeding with a quick shot from top center after a chaotic ground ball situation in front of the goal left the Thunder out of position. With a little less than five minutes left in the second quarter, Trine responded with a goal from Dan LaFond (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) with 2:05 to play in the second to take a 5-1 lead into halftime.

Having not put away the Pirates early and letting them hang around, the Thunder made the game far more interesting than it should have been. Trine and Southwestern had almost identical stats in the second half, going 5-to-5 on face-offs, 15-to-16 on turnovers, 13-to-14 on shots taken and 21-to-21 on ground balls.

After giving up a man-up goal off a backdoor cut early in the third quarter, the Thunder allowed Southwestern to roll off a 3-1 third quarter that cut the lead to a more manageable 6-4 heading into the final stanza.

Freshman attackman Patrick Walker (Round Lake Park, Ill./Grayslake) would provide the Thunder with a lift, scoring a short goal off a quick crease feed from Dalton Madsen (Westminster, Colo./Northglen) with 9:31 remaining to increase the lead to 7-4. Jamie Long would respond with his third goal of the contest with 4:34 remaining. Junior? Eric Thompson (Cumberland, Mich./Greely) would beat a double team and fired a close range shot through the back of the net, increasing the Trine lead to 8-5 with 2:48 left.

While that would ultimately be enough to put the game away, Southwestern did their best to try stealing the win. Just 11 seconds later, the deficit was cut to two, 8-6, when Carter Cowan ripped a shot off almost immediately after the faceoff. Up by two with a little more than two minutes left, Trine did it’s best to run out the clock, but after turning the ball over following an attempted shot and save, the Pirates Jamie Long  scored his fourth goal of the game with three seconds left, cutting the gap to one, at 8-7. The ensuing faceoff battle burnt out the remaining seconds on the clock.

Madsen had a superb all-around game, finishing with a goal, three assists, four ground balls and two caused turnovers with a performance that played a key role in determining the outcome. Both teams finished 9-for-18 on face-offs, with both teams trading 4-0 quarters in faceoff wins during the first half.

Neither team was effective passing the ball around, with both sides struggling to clear (Trine 13-for-18, Southwestern 15-for-26) and holding on to it (24 TO’s for Trine, 31 TO’s for Southwestern). While Trine had four one-minute penalties, the Pirates failed to capitalize, going just 1-for-4 on man-up opportunities. Trine is now 3-0 in the program’s history against Southwestern.

Trine will return to action when they head back out on the road to Ohio Wesleyan on March 14 for 6 p.m. game.