ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team picked up their first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) win of the season 20-11 over Kalamazoo College. The offense was red hot with season-highs in goals (20), assists (9), draw controls (20), shots (45) and shots on goal (34).
With eight goals on the night, junior Danielle Gargiulo reached the 100-goal mark for her career. It is the fourth game in program history where a student-athlete has netted eight goals, and the second in Gargiulo's career. Sophomore Calista Richmond had eight points against the Hornets, five of which coming on assists. Richmond reached 50 goals in her young career.
The win puts the Thunder at 4-4, and 1-2 in MIAA action. The Hornets finish the game at 5-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Scoring was consistent in the first quarter with a combined 10 goals put on the scoreboard. Through 15 minutes, the Thunder held a 6-4 advantage. Junior Alyssa Keptner converted a free position attempt to start the game and sophomore Courtney Rhodes distributed a pass to Richmond for the second goal of the game for the Thunder. A combination of Gargiulo, Rhodes and Richmond capped off the six-goal first period for the team.
Kalamazoo got to within one to begin the second quarter, but four straight goals for the home team put gave Trine some breathing room at 10-5. Gargiulo put two more in the back of the net while sophomore Brooke Hoag and freshman Elizabeth Larson etched their names into the scorebook in the period. The Hornets were able to maintain pace and put two on the board before half's end.
The Thunder scored twice for every one goal for Kalamazoo in the third quarter as they opened up a 16-9 lead. Gargiulo added three more to her total, giving her eight goals on the day and Rhodes had another two scores in the period. Freshman Alyssa Lahutsky was the final member of the Trine team to score with her goal in the fourth quarter in the 20-11 victory.
The teams were even with 26 groundballs collected, but the Thunder were able to win in shots (45-28), draw controls (20-14) and fewer turnovers (25-21). Sophomore Maddy Kasten (4-4) tallied nine saves in net.
MIAA play continues at home on Monday, April 17 when the Adrian College Bulldogs pay a visit to Shive Field at 7:30 p.m.