ANGOLA, IND.-- Adrian pulled away from the Trine men's lacrosse team in the second half to defeat the Thunder 15-9 on Senior Day at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium.
The MIAA-leading Bulldogs outscored Trine 6-3 in the second half to defeat the scrappy Thunder squad. Mitch Burgin scored five goals to lead the Adrian attack, while Eric Fannell added three goals and two assists for a five-point afternoon. Doug Boyd also notched five points on a goal and four assists. Trine honored seniors David Louis (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) and Rob Brzezinski (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) prior to the final home game of their Thunder careers. Brzezinski had a big day, racking up the second-most ground balls in a game in school-history with 15 and winning 21-of-25 faceoffs. Brzezinski has now played in more games than any player in Trine men's lacrosse history. Louis picked up two ground balls and caused two turnovers. Trine falls to 4-10 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Adrian is 10-3 overall and 5-0 in the league.
Despite the loss, Trine has clinched at least a share of third-place in the MIAA. The Thunder could finish no worse than a three-way tie for third with Olivet (2-3) and Hope (1-3). Trine holds the tiebreak with Olivet by virtue of their 10-7 victory over the Comets.
Chris Ward (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Rita) led the Thunder attack with four goals. Patrick Walker (Round Lake Park, Ill./Grayslake North) added two goals and an assists. Walker has picked up an assist in six-straight games. George Youpel (Chicago Ridge, Ill./St. Rita) added two goals and an assist, while Andrew Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) added two assists.
The two teams battled to a 2-2 tie over the first 15 minutes. Ward scored both goals in the opening stanza for the Thunder, with Youpel picking up an assist on one of those tallies.
A fast start to the second quarter gave Trine their largest lead at 5-3 with 6:29 remaining in the half. Walker scored two goals and assisted on Youpel's man-up tally during that stretch. The Bulldogs responded however, scoring six of the last seven goals of the half to swing the momentum back in their favor. Fannell scored two goals, while Boyd scored once and assisted on three more.
A 3-1 third quarter pushed Adrian's lead to 12-7. Trine would get no closer than four the rest of the way, which came when Youpel scored a man-up tally with 14:22 to play.
Trine concludes the regular-season next Saturday, Apr. 26 when they travel to Hope. Faceoff is set for 1:00 p.m.