ANGOLA, IND. -- Trailing by four goals late in the third quarter, the Trine University men's lacrosse team scored 11 straight goals to come away with a 15-8 win against Kalamazoo (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game and regular-season home finale at Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium on senior night.
Kalamazoo (4-6, 0-3 MIAA) scored the only two goals of the first quarter and had a slim 3-2 advantage at halftime. The two goals for Trine (7-3, 2-2 MIAA) were the first scores of the second quarter and came off the sticks of seniors Neil Orr (Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic) and Eric Peal (Imperial, Mo./Seckman). But the Hornets tallied a late marker before time expired to take the one-goal advantage.
Junior Justin Gearig (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg) got the scoring started in the second half and wasted no time finding the back of the net needing just 17 seconds to tie the game at 3-3. Momentum then swung in favor of Kalamazoo as the Hornets rattled off five straight scores to take an, 8-4, lead with just under five-and-a-half minutes to go.
The Trine rally then began with three consecutive goals to end the third quarter starting with an unassisted goal by junior Tyler Klima (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg). Gearig and Orr then both tallied goals to narrow the gap to, 8-7, heading into the final 15 minutes.
A little over two minutes into the fourth quarter, sophomore Jarod Schepp (Oconomowoc, Wis./Kettle Moraine) recorded the game tying goal to make it an 8-8 game. Peal then put the Thunder ahead for good with a goal just over a minute later at the 11:36 mark and began a streak of three straight scores in the span of less than three minutes. The other two scores came on a man-up advantage with senior Conner Putman (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) getting a shot past the Hornet goalkeeper at the 10:19 mark and Orr who struck with 8:50 to go that increased the margin to, 11-8.
After a Kalamazoo timeout, the Trine offense didn't let up as Gearig and Peal got their fourth and third goals of the night and made it a 13-8 game. Sophomore Tyler Corless (St. Clair Shores, Mich/De La Salle) then struck for back-to-back goals, including capitalizing on another man advantage to complete the scoring as the Thunder went on to the 15-8 final.
Trine outshot Kalamazoo, 23-4, in the final quarter en route to an overall 49-31 advantage in the shot column with 32 of those being on net.
Gearig led the multi-point efforts for Trine with a game-high four goals and two assists for six total points. Peal was second in goals scored with three and also assisted on another for four points. Klima also had a four-point night with a goal and a game-high three assists. Orr finished the game with three goals, while Corless completed the list of multiple goal scorers with two.
Putman and Schepp both finished with a goal and Putman also had an assist for two points. Sophomore Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow) rounded the point scorers with an assist in the contest.
At goalkeeper, sophomore Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley) started the game and played 34:41 allowing five goals, while making seven saves. Junior Joseph Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) came on in the second half and played 24:32 to record the win while stopping three shots. Senior Chris Shuster (Medina, Ohio/Medina) finished the game in net and tallied one save.
Keptner led the team in ground balls with 10 and was followed by sophomore Brennan Battle (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) with six ground balls and was also 13-of-22 on faceoffs (59.1 percent).
Trine will next travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to face Calvin (Mich.) College in a MIAA game next Tuesday, Apr. 23. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
