ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team fell on the losing end of a 7-4 decision against North Central (Ill.) College in a non-conference game and the home opener at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium in Angola, Ind.
Junior Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and senior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) scored the goals for the Thunder with a pair of scores each. Junior Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) and senior Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) both recorded an assist to round out the point scorers.
Junior Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) played the entire game in net and finished with eight saves in 60 minutes of action. Senior Alex Jamieson (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) led the team in ground balls with five.
The two teams traded goals in the first two minutes of the game with Trine's (2-1) score coming off the stick of Orr at the 13:02 minute mark. North Central (4-0) then posted back-to-back goals to regain the lead by a 3-1 margin with 9:35 left to play in the opening quarter. The Thunder gained some momentum just before the end of the period with two goals of their own in the final 2:28, beginning with a second goal by Orr, this time on a man-advantage that cut the deficit in half. Klima tallied his first marker of the night shortly after the Orr goal to even the game at 3-3.
North Central tallied the only goals in the second quarter with the first one coming at the 9:52 mark and then again with just over nine minutes to go to head into the halftime break with a 5-3 advantage.
Neither team would score until just over the six minute mark of the third quarter when the Cardinals struck for another goal to go up by three scores, 6-3. But Trine got the goal back with 1:11 to play when Klima found the back of the net for the second time, with a helper from Putman, that pulled the Thunder back to within two goals, 6-4, heading into the final period.
Trine increased the offensive pressure to begin the fourth quarter, but could not add any additional goals to its total early on. What turned out to be the final goal of the game didn't come until the 6:17 mark when North Central tacked on an insurance goal to go back up by three scores and took the game by a final of 7-4.
Trine will host Heidelberg (Ohio) University on Saturday, Mar. 16 in a non-conference matchup at Zollner Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.