ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine's men's lacrosse team blew out Wilmington 16-3 to earn its second win of the year and first win at home Wednesday night in Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium.
The Thunder started the game off slow but by halftime took control of the game. Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich. / DeWitt) paced the attack for the Thunder with his second straight four-goal game, while three other Thunder players notched multi-goal efforts. Paul Carlquist (Downers Grove, Ill. / Downers Grove South) reached 100 points in his career with three goals and one assist. Trine improves to 2-2 on the season. Wilmington fell to 2-3 overall.
Chris Ward (Oak Lawn, Ill. / St. Rita) contributed to the attack with three goals. Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill. / Montini Catholic) and Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn. / Ridgefield) both had two goals, as Putman had his first career multi-point game.
Trine won 14-of-23 faceoffs, with Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill. / West Chicago) winning 8-of-11 of his attempts. Travis Lores (Kildeer, Ill./Lake Zurich) made five saves in 56:49 of action to earn the victory in net.
Jordan Backer (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville) anchored the defensive effort with four forced turnovers and collected three ground balls. Colin Lelito (West Chicago, Ill. / West Chicago) led the Thunder with collecting seven ground balls. Trine had the advantage with collecting 33 ground balls to Wilmington's 25.
The Thunder took the early lead in the first quarter at the 10:13 mark when Putman scored the first goal of the game. Putman came back less than a minute later to score another goal for the Thunder. The Quakers answered back towards the end of the first period with a goal by Jalen Jackson. With two minutes left in the quarter Maher scored another goal for the Thunder to enter the second quarter with a 3-1 lead.
Wilmington came within one of Trine early on in the second quarter with a goal by Matt Dugan, then the Thunder started to expand their lead. Goals came from Carlquist, Ward, Orr and a pair by Maher. The Thunder took the 8-2 lead into the half.
After the half Trine was not seriously threatened again and gained its first 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. Carlquist notched the 100th point of his career with an assist off Maher's forth goal with 11:34 to play.
Trine was successful in all their clearing attempts going into the fourth quarter.
The Thunder return to action Saturday, March 19 when they will host Concordia University Chicago. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Article contributed by Cody Konieczki, Trine University, Communications '17
