ANGOLA, IND.  --  The Trine University men's lacrosse team was picked to finish third in the 2019 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association preseason coaches poll.

Trine finished with 19 points to rank third out of eight teams.  Defending MIAA Champion Hope (Mich.) College was picked to finish as the favorite with eight points and six first-place votes.  Albion (Mich.) College was second with 12 points and two first-place votes.

Last season, the Thunder tied the school single-season win record with 10 victories and finished 10-6 overall.  Trine also qualified for the MIAA Tournament after posting a 5-2 mark in the conference regular-season.

In 2019, Trine returns 24 players from last year's roster, including four All-Conference players and the 2018 MIAA "Rookie of the Year."

Highlighting this year's list of returners will be senior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) after a standout season last year with individual career highs in goals (31), assists (nine) and points (40).  His 31 goals tied him for the most on the team.  He recorded nine multi-goal games that included a pair of career-high four goal efforts in wins against MSJ and Kalamazoo.  He finished both games with six total points (four goals and two assists) which were also career highs.  Orr led the team in shots with 100 and "man-up" goals with seven.  In addition, Orr tallied 21 ground balls and caused four turnovers. 

Trine will begin the 2019 season with a home matchup against Mount St. Joseph University on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium.  The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

2019 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll