ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's soccer team faced a tough opponent in its home and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener in No. 2 nationally-ranked Calvin (Mich.) College and came out on the losing end of a 3-0 decision at the Weaver Soccer Field in Angola, Ind.
Despite the final outcome, Trine (2-1-1, 0-1 MIAA) played stout defense for the majority of the game that included a pair of key saves early on by sophomore netminder Quinn O'Brien (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) to keep the Knights from taking an early lead. In-between Calvin's two shot attempts, senior Mason Pelphrey (Portsmouth, Ohio/Clay) recorded what turned out to be Trine's only shot attempt of the half, but the attempt sailed wide right. The Knights (5-0, 1-0 MIAA) finally broke the stalemate at the 25:52 minute mark with a goal to go ahead, 1-0.
The deficit remained a goal for Trine until just before the end of the half when Calvin struck again with 54 seconds remaining to increase the margin to 2-0 at the intermission.
In the second half, Calvin padded its lead with the only score which came during the 65th minute to make it a 3-0 game. Senior Bill Wilson (Mason, Mich./Mason) and freshman Alex Jasper (Niles, Mich./Nile) recorded shots for the Thunder in the final 45 minutes, but both shots sailed wide as the Knights went on to post the 3-0 final and remain undefeated on the season.
O'Brien played all 90 minutes in net for Trine. He faced 17 total shots with 14 stops.
Trine will travel to Albion, Mich. for a MIAA contest against Albion College on Saturday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m.