ANGOLA, Ind. - It wasn’t the way the senior class for the Trine University men’s lacrosse team wanted to close out their home season as the Thunder fell 10-3 to Adrian College, who clinched the regular season conference championship with the win. The Thunder fall to 7-5 on the season and 4-3 in the MLC with the loss.
Adrian scored four goals in the first quarter as that would be all they would need as they built to a 6-1 halftime advantage.
Senior Blaine Stahley (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) scored his 24th goal of the season to open the second quarter on a shot from about 30 yards out to give the Thunder their lone goal of the half.
Adrian would open the scoring in the second half as the two sides would trade goals in the third quarter.
Freshman Adam Martin (Farmington Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Cen.) would notch his seventh goals of the season with 6:44 left in the period to pull Trine within five.
Adrian would counter with another goal before senior Eric Thompson (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) scored his 24th goal of the year in his final home game to pull the Thunder back within five.
The Bulldogs would again score early in the fourth period, as Trine was unable to overcome the deficit. Adrian added a man-up goal with 3:31 left in the game as they ran out the final minutes on the clock.
Senior Alex Gregg (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) made 15 saves in net for the Thunder including five in the third period.
Defensively, sophomore Rob Brzezinski (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) led the way with six groundballs, while Gregg also recovered five. Junior Dalton Madsen (Westminster, Colo./Northglenn) led Trine with two caused turnovers.
Brzezinski also had a great day in the faceoff circle, winning 8-of-12 for the game.
On the night, Adrian out-shot the Thunder 41-23, while just out-dueling them defensively as the Bulldogs picked up 36 groundballs compared to 32 for Trine. The Thunder had the advantage in the faceoff circle for the night, winning 9-8. Both teams were successful on 15 clears as it took Trine 19 opportunities versus 17 for Adrian. The biggest difference in the game came on turnovers as the Thunder committed 21 against just 8 for the Bulldogs.
Trine will go on the road, looking to improve their chances of securing a spot in the conference tournament as they travel to Mount St. Joseph for a 1:00 p.m. match on April 21.