ALBION, MICH.-- The Trine men's lacrosse team fell to Albion, 20-5, in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals Thursday night in Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium.
The Britons scored nine-consecutive goals to turn an early 2-1 lead into an 11-1 second quarter advantage to put away the Thunder. Dylan Neal scored three goals and added three assists to pace Albion with a six-point night. Brit goalkeepers Kyle Formanczyk and Ian Monkman combined to make 15 saves. Chris Ward (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Rita) scored four goals to lead the Thunder attack. Albion advances to the MIAA Championship where the Britons will face top-seed Adrian.
Zach Hubbell, Kevin O'Grady and Alexander Dziewit each added three goals for Albion. The Britons outshot Trine 40-33 and held a 43-26 edge in ground balls. They scored five man-up goals in six attempts.
Paul Carlquist (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) added a goal and an assist, while Brandon Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) added one assist.
The Britons scored the first two goals of the game. Ward cut the deficit to 2-1 with his first goal of the game at the 12:13 mark of the first quarter, but after that it was all Albion. The Brits scored nine-consecutive goals to effectively put the game out of reach before the half.
Ward concludes the season with 35 goals, which ties him with Blaine Stahley for the second-highest total in a season in school-history.
Seniors Rob Brzezinski (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) concludes his career as Trine's all-time leader in ground balls with 356. Fellow senior David Louis (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) caused 64 turnovers in his Trine career, the highest total in school-history.
Trine finishes the season 4-12 overall.