ANGOLA, Ind. – Junior Collin Custer's six points led the way for the Trine University men's lacrosse team as they held off visiting Hanover College for a 12-6 victory.
Custer recorded the first goal of the contest with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first quarter. It marked the beginning of a pattern for the player, as he went on to score first in each of the four quarters.
Back in the first, however, the second goal of the game went to the visiting team knotting the score at one. Senior Noah Markus broke the tie in favor of the Thunder with seven and half minutes left.
Trine went on a run to start the second quarter, scoring three goals in the first two minutes. Custer bookended the streak with sophomore Charlie Anderson scoring the other goal during the stretch. After the Panthers scored a goal with 12 minutes remaining in the half neither team found the back of the net for ten minutes of the quarter.
Freshman Peter Piccillo tallied the final goal of the period giving the team a 6-2 lead entering the intermission. Senior Andrew Douglas added the team's two assists in the quarter on the second and final goals.
The Thunder built their largest lead of the day in the first half of third period. After Custers goal in the second minute, freshman Chris Molnar found the back of the net with just over ten minutes remaining. Douglas assisted on the goal and then scored the third of the period with 6:25 remaining to make the score 9-2. Senior Eli Pfotenhauer added an assist on that third goal.
Hanover clawed back into the game with two goals in the final minutes of the period cutting the lead to 9-4.
The Panthers cut into the lead further following Custer's goal in the fourth period. The score was down to 10-6 with under five minutes remaining in the contest. Freshman Jackson Bell silenced the comeback with 89 seconds remaining. Piccillo ended the game with his second to make the final score 12-6.
In net, junior Nick DiPaolo finished the game with the win on the back of ten saves despite allowing the six goals. Three different members of the led the way defensively with a pair of caused turnovers each, including junior Brett Baker, sophomore Samuel Achor and freshman Danny Kelly.
Senior Jack Konicek once again had a fantastic day in faceoffs finishing with 16 wins out of 21 attempts. He also led the team with ten groundballs.
The Thunder improve to 8-0 following the win. The will begin the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) portion of their schedule when they next take the field. They are set to travel to face Alma College on Saturday, April 8. The game is set to start at 1 p.m.
