ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team scored a season-high 25 goals in a 25-0 rout of Concordia University-Chicago in the home opener at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium.
Trine dominated right from the start as the Thunder outshot the Cougars, 61-5. Senior Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) led a fleury of goal scorers with a game and career-tying high five goals. He also assisted on three other scores to end the day with eight points. Three players each posted three goals on the day that included Daniel William Shine (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech College Prep), freshman Brandon Matuszczak (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) and junior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic). Shine tied Maher for the team-lead in assists with three to record a six-point day overall. Matuszczak also recorded a helper to go along with his three goals for four total points.
Both junior Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) and freshman Jared Turner (Yorktown, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) scored a pair of goals and Peal also tallied two assists for four points. Six other Thunder players each scored a goal with sophomore Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) and freshman Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich./De La Salle) both scoring two assists along with senior Andrew Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit), sophomore Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and junior Connor Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) all adding additional assists to round out the multi-point scorers.
Trine (4-2) scored six goals in each of the first three quarters and tallied their first goal of the game just 51 seconds into the opening period with Peals first goal. Maher scored two of his game's five goals at the 7:44 and 1:01 marks of the first period as the Thunder led, 6-0, after the first 15 minutes.
In the second quarter, Trine added six more goals on 22 shots with Maher scoring two of the team's first three markers of the period to lead, 9-0, a little under 10 minutes in. The Thunder offense then added their final three scores of the quarter in the last three minutes with goals from Gearig, Klima and Orr on a man-up advantage, that gave Trine a commanding 12-0 margin at halftime.
Orr scored the first and the last goal of the third quarter as the Thunder tacked on six more scores coming out of the intermission. Maher scored his final goal of the game at the 11:02 mark in addition to Shine, senior Kevan Barissi (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and Peal all finding the back of the net to extend the lead to 18-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Thunder offense didn't let up in the fourth with seven goals on just 10 shots. Matuszczak, Shine and Turner all scored a pair of goals in the frame and Walters scored the final goal of the contest with a little more than six minutes to go as Trine cruised to the 25-0 final.
A host of players saw playing time in net for Trine with sophomore Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) getting the start and played the entire first half netting the win. Steigmeyer faced only one shot in the first 30 minutes, which he kept out of the net for his only save of the game. Freshman Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) played the entire third quarter and made one save while allowing no goals. Junior Chris Shuster (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and freshman Adam Slaber (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) split time in the fourth with Shuster making one save in 7:21 minutes of action.
Trine is scheduled to host the University of Dubuque (Iowa) on Saturday, Mar. 24 in a non-conference game at Zollner Stadium. The game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.