NAPERVILLE, ILL. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team was defeated by North Central (Ill.) College, 12-7, in a non-conference game in Naperville, Ill.
North Central (4-1) tallied the first goal of the game just 45 seconds into the first quarter, but the lead didn't last long as freshman Noah Markus (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) got Trine (4-1) on the scoreboard less than a minute following the North Central goal at the 13:28 mark to even the game at 1-1.
The Cardinals then scored the next three goals to take a 4-1 advantage before the Thunder scored their second marker of the game with a little under five minutes to to when junior Jarod Schepp (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) got a shot past the NCC netminder to make it a 4-2 game. North Central struck for a final time before the end of the first quarter with a goal at the 1:53 mark to take a 5-2 margin into the second frame.
North Central scored the first two goals of the second period to increase its lead to 7-2 with 7:39 remaining. Junior Tyler Corless (St. Claire Shores, Mich./De La Salle) got the Thunder a goal closer when he found the back of the net at the 5:15 mark to end the scoring in the quarter and pull Trine to with four goals at the break, 7-3.
Just over 45 seconds into the second half, Schepp scored his second goal of the contest to get Trine to within three scores, 7-4. Both teams then swapped goals with Trine's goal coming off the stick of Markus to keep the deficit at three goals, 8-5, with 8:17 remaining. NCC added to its lead with a two additional goals before time expired in the third quarter that extended the margin to five goals heading into the fourth period.
Both teams scored a pair of goals in the fourth quarter that started with Corless 52 seconds in to make the score, 10-6. After a goal by the Cardinals, the Thunder crept back to within four goals when junior Brennan Battle (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) scored about a minute later. But the final goal of the game came at the 3:22 mark by the Cardinals to seal the five-goal victory, 12-7.
Schepp finished the game with two goals and added two assists for four points to lead the team. Markus and Corless also finished with a team-high two goals for a total of two points. Battle rounded out the goal scorers with a goal scored. Freshman Andrew Douglas (Liberty Twp., Ohio/Lakota East) tied Schepp with a team-high two assists for two points. Freshman Cabe Maskevich (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) also got in the scoring column with an assist for one point.
The duo of junior Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow) and freshman Brandon Clark (Liberty Twp., Ohio/Lakota East) led the team in ground balls with six each. Keptner also had a team-high two caused turnovers.
Junior Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) played all 60 minutes in net for Trine and had 21 saves in the loss.
Trine is scheduled to compete in a neutral-site game against Benedictine (Ill.) University on Sunday, Mar. 15 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The game is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.