ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team posted a dominant win against Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponent Adrian (Mich.) College, 16-1, at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium in Angola, Ind.
The Thunder out-shot the Bulldogs, 52-12, and were led in scoring by the combination of sophomore Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) and senior Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) with five points each having both scored three goals and two assists. Juniors Connor Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) both finished with four points on the day with Putman scoring a pair of goals and assists, while Orr tied Gearig and Maher with a team-high three goals in addition to scoring one assist.
Senior Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) scored a goal and an assist to finish with two points along with freshman Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich./De La Salle) who tallied two goals to also finish with two points. Senior Andrew Walters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) and junior Daniel William Shine (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech College Prep) both scored goals to record a point and junior Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) and freshman Brandon Matuszczak (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) rounded out the point scorers with an assist each.
In goal for Trine, sophomore Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) got the start and played 27:20 minutes allowing no goals to pick up the win. Freshman Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) came on to replace Steigmeyer and played 17:40 and gave up no goals while making four saves. Junior Chris Shuster (Medina, Ohio/Medina) played the final quarter and allowed just a lone goal and had one save.
The Trine (6-5, 1-2 MIAA) offense scored seven goals in the first quarter with Maher scoring the first two at the 11:57 and 7:35 minute marks. Gearig also scored two of his three goals in the period that included a man-up goal with just under six-and-a-half minutes to go and also tallied the final marker of the frame with 39 seconds to go. The remaining Thunder goals were scored by Shine, Putman and Corless as Trine led by a commanding, 7-0, margin after the first 15 minutes.
In the second quarter, Trine added two more scores to its total, beginning with Maher's third goal of the game with 10:55 left in the half to make it an 8-0 contest. Putman recorded the final goal of the half, and second of the day, with 3:37 remaining off of an Adrian turnover as the Thunder took a 9-0 advantage into the locker rooms.
Trine continued the offense in the third quarter with three markers including another score by Gearig just 1:37 into the period to increase the lead to 10-0. Orr then tallied the next two Thunder scores which came just 1:33 apart, beginning with his first goal at the 8:46 mark and then again with 7:13 to play. The second goal by Orr would give the Thunder a 12-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter saw Trine add four more goals on the scoreboard and Orr continued his scoring streak with his third goal of the game 24 seconds into the quarter on a man-advantage. Less than a minute later, Walters put his name in the scoring column with a goal at the 13:51 mark to put Trine ahead, 14-0. The Thunder struck on another man-advantage opportunity later in the frame when Corless found the back of the net that made it a 15-0 game. The final Trine goal came off the stick of Lelito with six minutes to go. Adrian (0-10, 0-3 MIAA) would get on the scoreboard late with its only goal coming at the 3:09 mark on a man-up opportunity, but the earlier margin created by Trine put the game well out of reach as the Thunder claimed the 16-1 final.
Trine will play its next two games on the road, starting with a trip to Kalamazoo, Mich. for a MIAA contest against Kalamazoo College on Wednesday, Apr. 18. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
