FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Trine University men's soccer team picked up a bounce back victory on Sunday by a score of 5-0 over Franklin College.
In the match, Tyler Murphy [Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central] scored three goals for his first career hat trick, coming off the back of his first multi-goal game on Wednesday's win over Manchester. Goalkeepers Troy Saylor [Caledonia, Mich. / Caledonia] and Connor McKenzie [Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea] combined for a shutout, the first of the season for Trine.
The Thunder advance their record to 2-1 on the season, while Franklin falters to an 0-3 start in 2021.
The first two opportunities of the game for Trine came in the seventh minute, with Murphy and senior Brian Morris [Metamora, Mich. / Lapeer] putting a pair of shots on goal, but both were saved by the Grizzlies' keeper.
The 17th minute would provide the opportunity to remove the goose egg from the scoring column. A lose ball inside careened off the crossbar and Murphy was there to provide support and shunted the ball passed the goalkeeper despite the confusion on the play.
Just three minutes later, a deflected pass by Murphy put the ball back at his feet and he delivered a laser in traffic for his second goal of the match.
Before the half came to a close, Murphy completed the hat trick in the 44th minute. Brandon Murphy [Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central] got the assist on a long pass from the defensive side of the field and his brother beat the defender one-on-one to secure his first career three-goal game.
The second half was highlighted by two goals for the Thunder. The first came in the 53rd minute when a left-footed shot from Joey Donovan [Aurora, Ill. / Metea Valley] found the back of the net and the second from Gavin Zorn [Philadelphia, Pa. / Owen J. Roberts] in the 87th to get to the 5-0 final. It was Donovan's second goal of the season, while Zorn notched his first career goal on Sunday.
Francesco Mazzei [Dearborn, Mich. / Dearborn] was credited with the assist on Donovan's goal and Grant Deaton [Goodrich, Mich. / Goodrich] got his first career point with an assist to Zorn.
The Thunder outshot the Grizzlies 15-6 in the game, with 11 of the 15 shots being on-goal.
Saylor got the win after completing the first 45 minutes in net and saved two shots. One shot was saved by McKenzie in the second half of the shutout.
Next on the matrix for Trine is a road match on Friday, September 10 at Heidelberg University. Kick-off is slated for 4 pm.