Angola, Ind. – The Trine's men's lacrosse team opened its season with a convincing 9-2 victory over Mount St. Joseph Wednesday night at Shive Field.
Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg) and Daniel Shine (Chicago, Ill. / Lane Tech College Prep_ led the Thunder attack with three points apiece. Klima had two goals and an assist in the victory and had three caused turnovers to lead the defensive effort. Shine added a pair of goals and an assist. Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich. / Vicksburg) contributed to the offense with four assists.
Trine collected 41 ground balls to Mt. St. Joseph's 22 and outshot the Lions by a 46-22 margin. The Thunder was successful in 11 of its 14 clear attempts. Trine held the Lions to 12-25 for its clear attempts.
Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Bishop Dwenger and Zachary Paterson (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) made their debut for the Thunder in the net. Both had two saves on night. Steigmeyer was credited with his first collegiate.
The Thunder drew first blood in the opening minute of the game with a goal by Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn. / Ridgefield). Trine took a quick 2-0 lead over the Lions when Klima scored from the middle. At the 8:13 mark of the first quarter, Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich. / DeWitt) scored a goal with an assist coming from Gearig. Trine led the Lions 3-0 going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter Trine added to its lead when Shine scored a goal off an assist from Brandon Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / University of Detroit Jesuit). The Lions scored its first goal of the game seconds later with the goal coming from Seth Poirier. Shine picked up an assist when Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill. / Montini Catholic) scored a goal to give Trine a four-point lead. Gearig picked up his second assist of the game when Shine scored his second goal.
Mt. St. Joseph scored in the opening minute of the second half with a goal by Tyler Lindholz. Austin Lowery had the assist on the goal. With less than six minutes left in the third quarter Maher scored a goal off a another feed from Gearig.
At the 10:41 mark of the fourth quarter, Klima scored his second goal of the game from the top left corner. Gearig assisted on the goal. Earl Peal (Imperial, Mo. / Seckman) added to the team's lead scoring a goal that was assisted by Klima.
Trine opens its season 1-0. Mt. St. Joseph falls to 0-1.
The Thunder return to action Saturday, March 4, when it travels to the University of Dubuque. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Article contributed by Cody Konieczki, Communications New Media '17