MILWAUKEE, WIS. -- Seniors Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) and Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) combined for nine of the team's 10 goals to lead the Trine University men's lacrosse team to a 10-6 victory against Milwaukee School of Engineering in a non-conference game in Milwaukee, Wis.
Orr led the duo with a game and career-high five goals on nine shots and Peal netted four goals on eight shots. Orr also recorded a team and game-tying high two assists to finish with seven total points on the afternoon.
Also etching their name in the goal scoring category was sophomore Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich./De La Salle) who tallied the other score for the Thunder.
Junior Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) matched Orr in assists with a pair, while junior Brent Farrugia (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston), sophomore Jarod Schepp (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and junior Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) each had one assist.
Junior goalkeeper Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) led the Thunder defensive attack with 15 saves in net in 60 minutes of action. Farrugia led thet eam in ground balls with five and was followed by senior Max Harris (Green Bay, Wis./Green Bay Southwest) who had four ground balls.
The game started out with a low-scoring first quarter, but Trine (5-1) needed just 33 seconds to get on the scoreboard when Corless found the back of the net at the 14:27 mark. Milwaukee School of Engineering (3-5) netted a goal with a little over 12 minutes to go in the opening period to even the game at 1-1. The Raiders wasted no time taking the lead with another marker 48 seconds later to make it a 2-1 game. Neither team added any more goals the rest of the quarter as MSOE maintained a slim 2-1 margin heading into period number two.
Peal and Orr combined to score the remaining goals for Trine in the game beginning with Peal who scored his first goal of the game, and the first of the second quarter, at the 9:26 mark and evened the score at 2-2. About a minute-and-a-half later, Orr struck on a "man-up" advantage for his second goal of the day at the eight-minute mark to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead. Nearing the end of the half, MSOE tied the game again with a goal that made the score 3-3. But Trine regained the lead less than a minute later when Peal tallied his second goal with 1:11 remaining. Peal's goal was the final point of the half as the Thunder went into the break with a 4-3 lead.
The third period didn't see any points scored until 2:42 remaining when Orr capitalized on another man-advantage for his third goal of the game and extended the Trine lead to two goals, 5-3. In the final two minutes, MSOE scored a pair of goals starting with a marker at the 1:52 mark and then again with 48 seconds left to deadlock the teams at 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Trine's offense exploded for five goals in the final period that started with back-to-back scores by Orr and included his third goal on a man-advantage. The final goal for the Raiders came with just under 11 minutes to go in the game that got MSOE to within one point, 7-6. But Trine put the game away with three more goals to end the contest with Peal scoring two of those goals, and Orr the other, en route to the Thunder coming away with a 10-6 victory.
Trine will go for a possible fourth-straight victory when it hosts Hope (Mich.) College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener next Saturday, Apr. 6 at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium. The two teams are set to square off at 1 p.m.
