ANGOLA, Ind. - Behind the 7-goal offensive eruption of senior Emily Canepa (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West), the Trine University women’s lacrosse team held on for their first ever MIAA win as they defeated Albion College 14-13. The win improves the Thunder to 2-4 on the season and 1-2 in the conference. Albion had been previously unbeaten in the conference.
Trine opened the scoring two minutes in as sophomore Taylor Gast (Akron, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) notched her sixth of the season. After an Albion goal, Canepa would tally her first of the day.
Albion would then score three straight goals, all by Ashley Glenn. The Thunder would go on a three goal run of their own as junior Darcy Little (Williamsburg, Ohio/Williamsburg) scored first and Canepa added two more as the Thunder led it 5-4.
Gast would add a second goal sandwiched between two Britons goals as the game was tied at 6-6 at the half.
The Britons opened the second half by scoring the first two goals as they took what would be their final lead. Gast and Canepa scored a minute apart to tie the game at eight. The two would flip-flop as Canepa then scored with 21:56 left and Gast would score a minute later as the Thunder took the lead for good.
Gast would tally her fifth goal of the game as Albion scored a pair of goals to pull within one. Freshman Bronti Belanger (Haslett, Mich./Haslett) would score 23 seconds later on a free position shot to push the lead back to two. Canepa would score twice more both coming a minute apart, including the eventual game-winner, as the Thunder led it 14-10.
Albion would make things interesting as they scored three straight goals to close out the game, with the final one coming with just 48 seconds left. Trine was able to win the ensuing draw control and run out the clock.
Canepa’s 7-goal performance tied a single-game school record held by former Thunder players Kayla Grieser and Shelly Raupp, both of whom had a 7-goal performance also again Albion on April 27, 2010. Canepa also led the Thunder with a game-high nine groundballs, six caused turnovers and grabbed four draw controls. Gast doubled her season total with her five goals on the day while Belanger led the Thunder with five draw controls.
Sophomore goalie Grace Garrett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) made four stops on the day between the pipes.
The two sides both attempted 25 shots on the afternoon. The Thunder had a 25-to-21 advantage on groundballs and held a slim 15-to-14 advantage on draw controls. Trine would commit one more turnover on the day (24-to-23) as the Thunder were 12-of-21 on clearing opportunities while the Britons were 10-of-16.
Trine will return to action on April 19 when they host MIAA preseason favorite Adrian for a 4:00 p.m. game.