ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's lacrosse team captured its 10th win of the season, and fifth straight, to tie the school single-season record with a, 7-3, victory against Alma (Mich.) College at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium on senior day in Angola, Ind.
Senior Jordan Lelito (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) led the team in scoring with three total points that included a team-tying high two goals and an assist. Junior Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) also scored a pair of goals to finish with two points. Senior Nick Maher (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) matched Peal in total points with two after scoring a goal and assisting on another.
Sophomore Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) and junior Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) rounded out the point scorers with a goal each for one point.
Sophomore Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) played the entire game in net to lead the Thunder defense and got the win after allowing just three goals, while making 10 saves. Maher led the team in ground balls with four.
Both teams played a competitive first quarter with the first goal of the game not coming until the 4:51 mark when Klima got a shot past the Scot netminder that gave Trine (10-5, 5-2 MIAA) a 1-0 lead. Later in the period, the Thunder struck again when Lelito found the back of the net with his first goal of the afternoon to end the scoring and send Trine into period number two with a 2-0 advantage.
In the second quarter, the two teams exchanged goals with Alma (7-10, 4-3 MIAA) getting on the scoreboard first with a marker at the 9:25 mark. Late in the quarter, Orr scored on an unassisted goal with under four minutes to go to extend the margin back out to a pair of goals, 3-1. The goal by Orr would be the final of the period as the Thunder maintained a two-goal advantage at the break.
Trine began the scoring in the third frame with a goal by Peal at the 12:17 mark to gain a bit more breathing room, 4-1. But Alma then picked up two quick goals that came less than a minute apart at the 7:09 and 6:49 marks to narrow the gap to a single goal, 4-3, after three quarters of play.
The two goals by Alma in the third period were the final scores for the Scots as Trine put up three goals in the fourth quarter, beginning with Peal's second tally of the contest with 12:57 left to play. Maher then got in the goal scoring column with his only goal of the game a little over a minute following the Peal goal to make it a 6-3 game. Lelito then added another goal, his second of the day, at the 6:38 mark and put the game out of reach as Trine ended with a 7-3 win after the clock hit zeros.
Trine has secured the number three seed in this year's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament that will begin on Wednesday, May 2. The Thunder will travel to Albion, Mich. to take on second-seeded Albion College. The start time is TBA.
