ALBION, Mich. - Seven unanswered fourth quarter goals lifted the Trine University men’s lacrosse team past MLC opponent Albion College 12-4. The win improves the Thunder to 6-4 on the season and 3-2 in the conference.
Senior Eric Thompson (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) opened the game scoring twice in the first quarter, with his second goal coming on an assist from fellow senior Dan LaFond (Neenah, Wis./Neenah). Albion would score with just 11 seconds in the period as they pulled within one.
The two sides would trade goals in the second as senior Blaine Stahley (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) scored first for the Thunder before junior Dalton Madsen (Westminster, Colo./Northglenn) tallied the final goal of the half with 4:09 left to play.
Stahley would add another goal to open the second half before the Britons struck back with just over eight minutes left to play.
Albion pulled within one as they scored just 49 seconds into the fourth quarter, as Trine led just 5-4.
From there though, it would be all Thunder as Stahley scored two minutes later and Trine never looked back. LaFond would score on a man-up opportunity before goals by Thompson and Stahley were assisted by Madsen with 2:26 to go in the game.
Madsen would score back-to-back goals just 30 seconds apart before Thompson put the final exclamation point on the game, scoring a man-up goal with just two seconds left on the clock.
Stahley and Thompson led the way for the Trine offense, each tallying four goals on the afternoon. Madsen had a stellar game scoring three goals and assisting on three others. LaFond added Trine’s other goal while also dishing out an assist. Thompson also led the Trine defense, picking up a season-high 10 groundballs.
In goal for the Thunder, senior Alex Gregg (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) made a game-high 14 saves between the pipes.
For the game, Trine out-shot the Britons 35-24, but Albion held an 18-17 lead in groundballs recovered. The Thunder won one more faceoff, 10-9, over Albion. Trine converted on 3-of-7 man-up opportunities while Albion was held scoreless, 0-3. The Britons went 15-18 on clearing opportunities while Trine finished 20-26 chances.
Trine will head back out on the road as they travel to Hanover College for a 1:00 p.m. game on April 14.
