ANGOLA, Ind. – Shutout third quarter enough for Trine University men's lacrosse team to defeat visiting Illinois Tech by the score of 6-4. Five different student-athletes would score for the team in the low-scoring victory.
The Scarlet Hawks would strike first with a goal just under two minutes into the contest. Junior Andrew Douglas (Liberty Twp., Ohio / Lakota East) would respond for the Thunder tying the game with 9:21 remaining in the first. Under a minute later Illinois took back the lead. The 2-1 score would hold into the first break.
Both defenses buckled down in the second quarter with the team's combining for just one goal. That goal would go to Trine with just under 11 minutes remaining. Freshman Charlie Anderson (Howell, Mich. / Hartland) would score the goal on a man-up opportunity with Douglas adding an assist.
Coming out of halftime the Thunder had their strongest quarter of the day shutting out the opposition while scoring three goals of their own and building at 5-2 lead. Freshmen Blaine McNabb (Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville), Patrick Doyle (Fishers, Ind. / Cathedral) and Samuel Achor (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) would each tally a goal during the stretch.
The fourth saw the Hawks fight their way back into the contest, scoring two goals in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter cutting the score to 5-4. They were threatening again with six minutes remaining in the game, but senior Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow) came up with one of his five caused turnovers in the game and drove down the field before passing the ball off to Achor who would make the score 6-4.
The defense would hold strong for the final minutes of the game holding onto the lead to secure the victory.
Sophomore Nick DiPaolo (Flemington, N.J. / Immaculate) started the game in net for the team, playing the first half there. He would allow just two goals while recording four saves in his thirty minutes. Senior Anthony Marasco (Naperville, Ill. / Nequa Valley) entered at the half and picked up the win, allowing just two goals with five saves.
Keptner led the team with his five caused turnovers while also leading the way with seven groundballs. Jack Konicek (Geneva, Ill. / Geneva) came in second on the team with five groundballs while also going 11 for 14 in the faceoff circle.
The team improves to 5-1 following the victory. They will continue their season when they host Earlham College on Wednesday, March 30. That contest is set to start at 7 p.m.