ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team fell to 1-1 on the season when they dropped a home game to 2-1 Ohio Northern University on Wednesday night by a score of 16-9. The Thunder had a strong second half but could not overcome first quarter struggles.
The Polar Bears rattled off six consecutive goals to start the contest before Avelyn McCall found a cutting Alyssa Keptner for their first score. Calista Richmond and Danielle Gargiulo added goals late in the period, but the Thunder fell behind 8-3 after one. Ohio Northern continued to build upon their lead in the second quarter by winning the 15 minutes 5-2. At halftime, it was 13-5 in favor of the visitors.
Coming out of the break, Trine was able to put things together both on offense and defense. Goalie Maddy Kasten held the Polar Bears to just one goal in the third quarter and the Thunder netted three themselves to start to chip away at the deficit. Courtney Rhodes and Brooke Hoag combined for all three scores in the early stages of the period.
Trailing 14-8 going into the fourth quarter, Trine ran out of time on their comeback attempt. Nikki Hibler found the back of the net while a man up, but it was not enough in the 15-9 loss.
Ohio Northern won the ground ball count 29-19, but the Thunder came out on top with a 12-9 difference in saves and 17-12 in draw controls. The Polar Bears took more shots at 31-20, leading to the victory.
Richmond paced the offense with four points on two goals and two assists. Seven ground balls and 12 saves were credited to Kasten (1-1) while Keptner and Gargiulo reeled in six draw controls apiece. Elizabeth Larson had a team-high three caused turnovers in the loss.
Trine is on the road for their next game at Madonna University on Saturday, March 2. The opening draw control is set for 1 p.m.