ALMA, Mich.-- The Trine men's lacrosse team was defeated by Alma 11-3 in the MIAA-opener Saturday afternoon at Bahlke Field.
The Scots scored the first six goals of the game to pace the victory. Jake Ellens scored three goals and notched two assists to pace Alma. Austin Irrer and Kyle Schnitzel each added two goals. Chris Ward (Oak Lawn, Ill. / St. Rita), Jake Ahearn (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville) and Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich. / DeWitt) each scored for the Thunder. Trine opens MIAA play 0-1 and falls to 3-4 on the season. Alma improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill. / West Chicago) continued to improve on his face-off win rate, controlling 7-of-10 face-offs on the afternoon. He also picked up four ground balls and added an assist.
Alex Jamieson (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) provided a bright spot defensively for the Thunder with a team-high two casued turnovers. Jordan Backer (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville) notched a team-high five ground balls.
The Scots converted on 3-of-6 extra-man opportunities while holding the Thunder scoreless in five extra-man situations. Alma outshot Trine by a 31-28 margin and held a 40-31 edge in ground balls.
Schnitzer and Ellens each scored two goals as part of the six-goal start for the Scots. Maher scored off a pass from Lelito right off a face-off to get the Thunder on the board. Ward added an unassisted tally for his 99th career point.
Alma added two man-up goals in the second half. Ahearn scored the final Trine tally on an unassisted goal in the closing minutes for the final margin.
Trine returns to action Tuesday, Apr. 12 when the Thunder host Kalamazoo at 6 p.m. The Hornets are fielding a first-year program were scheduled to make their MIAA debut this afternoon.