NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team nearly came back from four goals down in the fourth quarter of play on Tuesday evening, but ultimately came up short 11-10 against Saint Mary's College.
The loss drops the Thunder to 5-6 overall and 2-4 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) action. After the final whistle of tonight's MIAA games, Trine has been eliminated from postseason play. The Belles of Saint Mary's remain in playoff contention with an 11-5 record and are 5-1 inside the league.
The Thunder found themselves in an early hole down 3-0 after the first quarter, including a pair of scores by Saint Mary's in the final minute. The team would find themselves down by as many as four before Danielle Gargiulo scored off a find by Calista Richmond for Trine's first goal. Gargiulo would be on the assist side of the team's next goal – a score by Brooke Hoag to make it 4-2. Alyssa Keptner distributed an assist to Nikki Hibler to make it 5-3 Belles going into halftime.
The teams would trade scores in the third quarter with Hoag hitting the back of the net twice to pull within one at 7-6 heading into the final period of play. Things began to look grim for the Thunder as Saint Mary's rattled off four of the next five goals. Elizabeth Larson was the one responsible for putting the ball passed the opposing keeper, but Trine trailed 11-7 with less than 10 minutes to go.
The defensive battle continues into the late stages of the game, but the floodgates opened with less than three minutes left. Richmond dished out a pass to Courtney Rhodes with 2:54 to play to cut into the Belles' lead. Gargiulo would convert a free position attempt one minute later and Avelyn McCall put her name in the scoring column with 40 seconds to play to make it a one-goal game at 11-10. Saint Mary's would grab the final draw control of the game and possess the ball to the final buzzer.
Goalkeeper Maddy Kasten (5-6) had 16 saves and a team-high five groundballs in the game to keep the team in contention for the win throughout the night. Defender Josie Prince caused three turnovers for the Thunder. As a team, Trine was outshot 37-18 and lost the battle on draw controls by a mark of 19-6.
The regular season finale for Trine will take place at home on Friday, April 28 when the Albion College Britons visit Angola. The game begins at 7 p.m.