RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- The Trine men's lacrosse team erupted for 23 goals in a 23-5 victory over Concordia Chicago Wednesday evening at Concordia Stadium.
The 23 goals represent the second-highest total in a game in Thunder men's lacrosse history. Eleven Trine players contributed goals to the victory. Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo. / Seckman), Daniel Shine (Chicago, Ill. / Lane College Tech Prep) and Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg) each notched five-point efforts to lead the attack. Peal and Klima each contributed a career-high four goals to go along with an assist, while Shine added three goals and a pair of assists. Trine improved to 3-2 on the season. Concordia fell to 0-5.
Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill. / Montini Catholic) added three goals to the offensive efforts, while Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich. / DeWitt) and Kevan Barissi (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forrest Hills Central) each chipped in a pair of goals. Chris Krammer (Bloomington, Minn. / Thomas Jefferson) and Brent Farrugia (Clarkston, Mich. / Clarkston) each notched their first career goals in the effort. The Thunder outshot Concordia by a 67-13 margin.
Jordan Batie (Goshen, Ky. / North Oldham) contributed a dominant effort on the face-off, winning 14-of-16 attempts. Trine won 25-of-32 (78.1 percent) of the face-off attempts in the game. Farrugia and Orr each collected a team-high five ground balls. Paced by their efforts, Trine held a 47-14 edge in ground balls in the game.
Thunder defenders were credited with 10 caused turnovers. Keith McCowan (Cary, Ill. / Cary-Grove) led the way with three, while Alex Jamieson (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) caused two turnovers. Zachary Paterson (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) made eight saves to earn the victory in net.
Klima scored twice to pace a 4-2 lead through the first 15 minutes before the Thunder exploded for 10 goals in the second quarter. Five straight Trine goals, capped by Peal's first tally pushed the score to 9-2 with 6:02 to play in the first half. After a Concordia goal, the Thunder answered with the final five goals of the half to take a 14-3 lead into the break. Nine different Trine players scored during the explosive second quarter effort.
The Thunder would go on to push its five-goal run to end the half all the way to 11, opening up a 20-3 lead with 8:41 to play in the third quarter. All told, Trine scored 16 times in a span of just 21:19. Peal tallied three of his goals in the third as the Thunder took a 22-4 lead into the final stanza. Klima's final goal was the last Trine would score as the Thunder closed out the victory.
Corey Sheehan scored three goals to pace Concordia. Alex Pankey made 20 saves for the Cougars.
Trine returns home to wrap up non-conference play with a contest against Heidelberg Wednesday, Mar. 29. Face-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
