ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team kicked off the 2024 season with a home game versus Bethel University on Saturday. The Thunder were victorious over the Pilots by a score of 14-9 to move to 1-0 on the year and send Bethel to 2-1.
Trine got an outstanding day from Brooke Hoag, who broke the program's single-game record with eight caused turnovers in the game. She also tied or had the team lead in goals scored (4), ground balls (6) and draw controls (10). Additional scoring for the Thunder included Calista Richmond and Danielle Gargiulo with four goals apiece while Richmond added five assists as well. Elizabeth Larson was credited with six ground balls in the win.
The first quarter was a shutout for the goalie Maddy Kasten as Trine led 3-0 after 15 minutes of play. Richmond scored twice and dealt out an assist to Nikki Hibler to begin play. The lead was extended to 4-0 in the first minute of the second quarter after Hoag found the back of the net for the first time on the afternoon.
A chaotic second quarter led to the Thunder taking a 7-4 lead into halftime. Gargiulo took advantage of a free position attempt to score and Alyssa Keptner did the same less than 60 seconds later to make it 6-2. A man up goal by Richmond off a feed from Courtney Rhodes countered back-to-back scores by Bethel in the middle of the second.
The Pilots opened the second half with a goal, but Trine answered with three consecutive goals – all by Hoag and all assisted by Richmond. The run of three came from 9:38 to play in the third to 8:24 left on the clock. The Thunder would go the rest of the period without a score, but still held a 10-6 edge heading into the fourth.
Gargiulo would net three of her four goals against Bethel in crunch time as Trine put away their opponents. Four goals out of five for the game in favor of the home side gave the Thunder their largest lead of the day at 14-7. The Pilots would make a late rally, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the final score read 14-9.
As a team, Trine won battles on ground balls (28-23), had fewer turnovers (26-20) and secured more draw controls (15-12).
The Thunder remain at home for game two of the season against Ohio Northern University. That game will take place on Wednesday, February 28 beginning at 7 p.m.