GEORGETOWN, TEXAS -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team fell short of Southwestern (Texas) University, 13-11, in a non-conference game in Georgetown, Texas.
Southwestern (5-5) led, 5-1, after the first quarter and scored the game's first three goals before Trine (2-2) found the back of the net with 1:49 to go in the period when junior Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) got a shot past the netminder to make the score 3-1. The Pirates added an additional pair of goals before time expired to get to their four-goal advantage after the first 15 minutes.
Senior Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) scored the first goal for Trine to begin the second quarter on a man-up opportunity and cut the deficit to 5-2 with 14:38 to go before halftime. The two teams then traded goals with the Thunders' score coming from junior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) at the 4:27 mark with an assist from Putman, one of his three helpers on the day, to make the score 6-3. Southwestern scored two more times to end the half and increased its lead to 8-3 at the intermission.
Trine outscored Southwestern, 8-5, in the second half and scored three goals in the third quarter by three different players. The Pirates began the quarter with three scores to take a commanding 11-3 margin. Following a timeout by Trine, the Thunder ended the five-goal scoring run by Southwestern with a score by junior Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) at the 7:50 mark. Southwestern answered the Peal goal with a goal of its own before the period ended with two "man-up" goals by Trine's Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) at the 5:10 mark and by Orr at the 3:28 mark as the Thunder went into the fourth quarter trailing, 12-6.
The Trine offense put up five goals in the final quarter, begining with a score from Peal 2:09 into the period to make the score 12-7. About three minutes later, Peal struck again for his third goal of the game, this time at the 10:08 mark that narrowed the gap to 12-8. Following a goal by Southwestern just over a minute later, the Thunder tallied three straight goals with two of the three scores coming from Gearig. The other goal was scored by sophomore Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg), but time was not on Trine's side as the potential rally fell short allowing the Pirates to hang on for the 13-11 final.
Gearig and Peal led the Trine goal scorers with three each. Gearig also tied Putman for the team lead in overall points with four as Gearig added an assist to go along with his three goals and Putman had three assists and a goal.
Orr rounded out the multi-goal scorers with two for two points. In addition, senior Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) tallied a pair of assists and Klima and Maher both ended the game with a goal and an assist to finish amongst the team point leaders.
Trine will return from its spring break competition to take on Heidelberg University on Saturday, Mar. 17 in Tiffin, Ohio. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
