ANGOLA, IND. -- Senior Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) was one of three players to score three goals, and added two assists, en route to a five-point afternoon to help lead the Trine University men's lacrosse team to a 12-5 win against Heidelberg (Ohio) University in a non-conference game at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium in Angola, Ind.
Junior Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) also scored three goals to go along with an assist for four points. Fellow junior Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) rounded out the three-goal efforts to finish with three points.
Senior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Cathlolic) tied Gearig in total points with a pair of goals scored and two assists. Senior Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) completed the multi-point individual performances with a goal and an assist for two points.
Also finding their way into the scorer's column was the duo of sophomores Brandon Matuszczak (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) and Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich./De La Salle) who both tallied assists for one point each.
In net for Trine, junior Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) played the entire game and got the win after allowing just five goals while making nine saves.
Junior Brent Farrugia (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) led the team in ground balls with six and was followed by sophomore Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow) with four.
Trine (3-1) scored the game's first goal just under two minutes into the contest when Gearig scored his first goal to give the Thunder the 1-0 advantage. But Heidelberg (2-4) answered less than a minute later with a goal of its own to even the game at a goal apiece, 1-1. The game remained scoreless until a fleury of goals by Trine in the final six minutes of the opening quarter that began with a marker by Kilma on a "man-up" opportunity at the 6:22 mark and was followed by back-to-back goals by Peal that came at the 2:49 and 1:16 minute marks to end the scoring and send Trine into the second quarter with a 4-1 lead.
Trine scored the only goal in the second frame which didn't come until the 2:14 mark when Klima found the back of the net for his second score of the day to put Trine ahead by a sizeable five-goal margin heading into the locker rooms.
Heidelberg got back into the contest with two early goals to begin the third period to make it a 5-3 game. Just past the midway point of the quarter, Trine ended the momentum swing with consecutive goals that started with another score by Gearig at the 6:58 mark and then an unassisted goal by Orr with 6:20 left to extend the lead back out to four goals, 7-3. The two teams then traded goals to end the quarter with Trine's goal coming off the stick of Peal, his third of the game, with just under two-and-a-half minutes remaining that made it an 8-4 contest after three periods of play.
Putman put Trine on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter just over a minute in to start the scoring. The Student Princes then tallied a goal at the 9:13 mark to get back to within four goals before Trine put the game out of reach with three straight goals that included a pair of scores a minute apart by Orr and Kilma. The final goal of the game came with 2:01 on the clock when Gearig tallied his third goal to send Trine to the 12-5 victory.
Trine will wrap-up its three-game homestand next Saturday, Mar. 23 when the Thunder host Wabash College in a non-conference game at Zollner Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
