Matt Land
Athletic Director

Being a member of the nation's oldest collegiate athletic conference, the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), seeing more than 1100 student-athletes participate in 27 varsity sports, in addition to nine club sports, and having some of the finest facilities to field exciting NCAA Division III competitive events is what makes Trine athletes know their college experience will be something they will remember the rest of their lives. The recent addition of athletic programs such as men's and women's ice hockey, esports, men's and women's bowling, women's triathlon, synchronized ice skating, figure skating, acrobatics and tumbling and women’s wrestling programs make this an exciting time in the history of our athletic programs. We invite you to be a part of Thunder history.

For more than 135 years, Trine University has prided itself on strong academic programs. The athletic department works closely with and understands the needs of our student-athletes in order for them to meet the demands necessary to achieve the academic excellence needed to prepare for work and future challenges.

Our facilities continue to meet the expansion and growth of our athletic programs with the recent completion of the Thunder Ice Arena and MTI Center.  We continue to make improvements to our already existing facilities to make them some of the finest venues in the region and all of NCAA Division III. 

The on–campus 18-hole championship golf course and 3500 seat gymnasium have allowed us to host several collegiate tournaments. Zollner Golf Course and Trine athletics also served as the host of the 2012 NCAA Women′s National Golf Championship. 

It is with great pride that we invite you to experience Trine athletics and to extend to you an open invitation to contact us. Better yet – come visit us on the campus of Trine University and experience the THUNDER!

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Men's soccer made its debut as a varsity sport at Trine (then Tri-State College) in 1962 and played its first game against Goshen College (defeating the Leafs, 5-2) and wrapped up the inaugural season with a match-up against Ball State (now Division I).  As members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the TSC Trojans posted their best season of its early program existence in 1971 and made its first appearance in the NAIA District 21 playoffs after finishing third in the Mid-Central Conference.  Eight years later, the program captured its first conference championship with a 10-4-1 record and made another appearance in the District 21 playoffs.

After a rename of the College and nickname in the 80's and early 90's to the Tri-State University Thunder, the men's soccer program transitioned to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) in 1994, and advanced to the conference championship game four times with two championship wins (1994 & 1995) over the course of the next nine seasons.  In the 2000s, Tri-State University went through another change to its current name, Trine University, and also transitioned to becoming members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of Division III and joined its current conference, the MIAA. 

Since then, the Thunder have made steady improvements under current Head Coach David Jacobs to becoming one of the top teams in the MIAA with high-level competition that includes Division III powerhouse Calvin (Mich.) College.  Trine has qualified for the conference tournament a total of four times and advanced to the semifinals this past season (2018) and fell just shy of advancing to the title game losing to Adrian via penalty kicks. 

Throughout its history, the men's soccer program has had 16 winning seasons that included 11 with 10 or more victories, including a school record 20 wins during the 1995 campaign (20-5 overall) and one undefeated season in 1994.  Most recently, the Thunder finished with a 13-3-2 mark in 2018, its highest win total since the 2011 season when the team also recorded 13 victories (13-5-2 overall).

A total of three All-American honors have been earned, with one multi-winner, in program history and a total of 56 all-conference awards and a combined four "Player of the Year" or "Newcomer of the Year" recognitions.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION