GEORGETOWN, Texas-- The Trine men's lacrosse team blew out Southwestern University 14-3 to notch its first win of the season Thursday night.
A hot start paced the Thunder to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter as Trine established control of the game early. Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) scored a career-high four goals to pace the attack, while three other Thunder players notched multi-goal efforts. Trine outshot the Pirates by a 36-25 margin. Trine improved to 1-2 on the season. Southwestern fell to 4-4 overall.
Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) scored the first two goals of his Trine career, while Chris Ward (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Rita) and Kevan Barissi (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) each added a pair of goals. Daniel William Shine (Chicago, Ill./Lane College Prep) also notched a multi-point night with a goal and an assist.
Trine won 12-of-20 faceoffs, with Lucas Radice (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) winning 6-of-8 of his attempts. Jordan Backer (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) once againt paced the Thunder with five ground balls. Travis Lores (Kildeer, Ill./Lake Zurich) made six saves in 48:06 of action to earn the victory in net.
Jake Ahearn (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) got the scoring started at the 12:20 mark of the first quarter. The Thunder then scored three goals in a span of 1:33 as Orr scored his first-career tally, while Shine and Maher added to the lead. Ward and Maher closed the first quarter with goals to give the Thunder a 6-0 lead.
Trine won 5-of-7 faceoffs and outshot Southwestern 9-5 in the opening quarter. The 60-percent success rate on faceoffs on the night was a season-best for the Thunder.
Trine continued to expand its lead in the second quarter behind goals from Maher, Orr, Barissi and Colin O'Keefe (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township). O'Keefe has contributed goals in each of the last two games as a defender. The Thunder took a 10-2 lead into the half.
Ward, Maher and Barissi accounted for all of the scoring in the third quarter as Trine expanded its lead to 13-2. Jordan Batie (Goshen, Ky./North Oldham) added his first collegiate goal in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
The Thunder were successful on its first 18 clearing attempts and finished 18-of-20 on clearing attempts on the night. That mark represented a season-best for the Trine
The Thunder will host Wilmington (Ohio) in its home-opener Wednesday, Mar. 16. Faceoff is slated for 6 p.m.