ALMA, MICH. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team began Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play with a 6-4 win against Alma (Mich.) College at Bahlke Field in Alma, Mich.
The two teams played a highly contested game throughout with the first goal of the contest not coming until the 5:38 mark of the opening quarter when freshman Collin Custer (Spanaway, Wash./Bethel) found the back of the net that gave Trine (2-1, 1-0 MIAA) the early lead. Alma (1-7, 0-1 MIAA) evened the game a little over three minutes later with its first goal of the game, but the Thunder needed just 24 seconds to break the stalemate when senior Matt Zanichelli (Rolling Meadows, Ill./William Fremd) got a shot past the Alma goalkeeper with 2:06 remaining in the period. The Zanichelli goal was the final point scored in the quarter, giving Trine a slim 2-1 advantage heading into the second quarter.
The scoring began early in quarter number two when Trine's Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich./De La Salle) scored an unassisted goal at the 12:48 mark and gave the visitors a two-goal edge, 3-1. Closing in on the midway point of the quarter, Alma made it a one-goal game again with its second score just under the nine-minute mark to make it a 3-2 game. Trine responded quickly when Zanichelli tallied his second goal of the game, this time with just over seven minutes to go in the half to extend the margin back to a pair of goals, 4-2. Both teams were held scoreless the rest of the quarter that included the Trine defense coming up with a stop on a Scot man-advantage to preserve its two-score lead at the break, 4-2.
Only one goal was scored in the third quarter which came off the stick of an Alma player with 4:19 remaining that made the score, 4-3. The remainder of the period was a defensive struggle with critical saves made by both team's goalkeepers.
Both offenses got off to another slow start in the fourth quarter with neither team scoring a goal until the 5:51 mark when sophomore Andrew Douglas (Liberty Twp., Ohio/Lakota East) gave Trine some breathing room by giving the Thunder a two-point advantage again, 5-3. But the Scots wouldn't go quietly and struck for another goal with 3:40 to play to get back to within one point, 5-4. That would end up being the final goal by Alma the remainder of the game and Corless tacked on an insurance goal for Trine at just under the two-and-a-half minute mark to seal the victory by a 6-4 final.
Both Zanichelli and Corless ended the night with a pair of goals to lead the team in that statistical category. Corless was also credited with two assists to post a five-point effort to lead all players.
Defensively, senior Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow) had a game-high four caused turnovers and was one of three Trine players to finish with a game-tying best five ground balls. Senior Brandon Matuszczak (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) and senior goalkeeper Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) were the other two players to have five ground balls.
Marasco played all 60 minutes in net to pick up his second win of the season and improve to 2-1 for the year. He allowed just four goals and made 15 saves on 19 shots faced.
Trine will face the same Alma team on Saturday, Mar. 27 as the two teams will play a back-to-back series. This time, the two squads will meet in a non-conference matchup at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium in Angola, Ind. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.