ALMA, Mich. – After a close first half, the Trine University men's lacrosse team pulled away from Alma College to start the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) with a 15-7 victory. Senior Andrew Douglas led the way offensively with six goals in the game.
Neither team scored ruing the first five minutes of the game. Senior Noah Markus finally broke the stalemate nine and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter. Ultimately the two teams traded goals in the first with both team's coming up with three for a 3-3 tie heading into the second. Douglas and sophomore Charlie Anderson scored the other two goals for Trine.
Freshman Chris Molnar opened the scoring in the second, as part of a trade in goals with the Scots leaving the score at 4-4 with five minutes left in the half. The Thunder made the most of those final minutes scoring two more goals to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. Douglas scored his second and freshman Peter Piccillo scored the other during the stretch.
After Alma cut the lead back to one to start the second half, Trine went on a 4-1 run to build their lead to 10-6 at the end of the third period. Douglas scored two more and added an assist during the period, with Piccillo and junior Collin Custer adding the other goals.
Again, the Scots cut into the lead with the first goal of the fourth, but it was a short-lived success. The Thunder shut the door on the game by scoring five goals over a five-minute stretch starting with 13:23 remaining in the game. Anderson, and Douglas both scored twice during the run with Piccillo adding the final goal.
Neither team scored in the final eight minutes of the game and the score would go final at 15-7.
Douglas ended the game with six goals and an assist. The goal tally is tied for the fourth most in a single game for the program. Anderson and Piccillo both finished the game with three goals, with Piccillo ending the game with four points after adding an assist. Markus and Custer each finished with a goal and an assist.
Junior Nick DiPaolo picked up his ninth win of the season in goal, moving into a tie for second in the program's single-season records. He finished the game with 12 saves while allowing just the seven goals. Senior Jack Konicek had another strong game in the faceoff circle. He finished the game with 11 wins and seven groundballs.
Trine improves to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in MIAA play following the win. They will continue their season when they host Calvin University on Wednesday, April 12. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in Zollner Stadium on Shive Field.