Angola, Ind. – The Trine's men's lacrosse dominated Heidelberg 15-2 in a victory Wednesday night at Shive Field.
Trine earned its second straight win by double digits. The Thunder scored 13 consecutive goals between the first and fourth quarters. The offensive attack was led by Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn. / Ridgefield) with a career-high four goals. Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg) contributed his second consecutive five-point effort with three goals and two assists. Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich. / DeWitt) helped with four assists on and added a goal of his own to match Klima's five-point night.
Zachary Paterson (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) earned the win in the net, improving his record to 3-1. Paterson had six saves for the Thunder.
Matt Wernerspach scored the Student Princes' only goals of the night.
Trine out shot Heidelberg by a margin of 51 to 19. The Thunder won 14-of-21 faceoffs (67 percent). Jordan Batie (Goshen, Ky. / North Oldham) won 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) of his attempts. Aaron Warner (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) paced the defensive effort with three of Trine's 10 caused turnovers.
The Thunder were the first to get on the board at the 10-minute mark when Brain Orr (Lombard, Ill. / Montini Catholic) scored off a quick pass from his brother, Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill. / Montini Catholic). With 6:13 left in the first quarter Putman scored another goal for Trine off a give-and-go with Maher. The Student Princes answered back a minute later with a goal by Wernerspach. Trine capped the first quarter going up by two again, 3-1, when Putman scored from inside with the assist coming from Klima.
In the second quarter the Thunder extended its lead over Heidelberg by six with a shutout performance on defense. Klima contributed two goals, while Putman and Maher each added goals. Daniel Shine (Chicago, Ill. / Lane Tech College Prep) had both assists for Klima's pair of goals and assisted Maher's goal. Trine went into halftime with a 7-1 lead over the Student Princes.
Klima scored his third goal of the game when he dove and shot low at Heidelberg's goal halfway through the third quarter. Ian Grise (Goshen, Ind. / Northridge) scored with four minutes left to keep the Thunder's run going with the assist coming from Maher. Thirty seconds later, Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill. / West Chicago) went on a break up the middle to score and put Trine up 10-1 over the Student Princes.
In the fourth quarter, the Thunder continued its scoring parade. Trine had a run of 13 goals until Heidelberg's Wernerspach scored his second goal off an assist from Nick Selfridge. In the final quarter, goals were by Grise, Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo. / Seckman), Putman, Chris Krammer (Bloomington, Minn. / Thomas Jefferson) and Kevan Barissi (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest hills Central). Maher assisted two of the tallies, with Brandon Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / University of Detroit Jesuit) and Max Harris (Green Bay, Wisc. / Green Bay Southwest) each adding one assist.
The Thunder return to action Saturday, April 8, when it hosts Alma in its MIAA opener. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Article contributed by Cody Konieczki, Trine University '17
