ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team won their second consecutive game on Monday night when the Thunder defeated Adrian College by a score of 17-5. Trine remains unbeaten at home with a 4-0 mark.
The Thunder are now 5-4 overall and back to even at 2-2 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play. The Bulldogs of Adrian are 5-7 this spring and winless at 0-4 in conference action.
Calista Richmond distributed a pair of assists to start the game up 2-0, one going to Courtney Rhodes and the other to Brooke Hoag. Adrian would answer with one score of their own, but it was the Thunder who pulled away at the end of the first quarter. Alyssa Keptner scored off a feed by Danielle Gargiulo with just under five minutes remaining in the period while Richmond and Hoag added on to make it 5-1.
Even when down a player, Trine had no issues expanding their lead. The Thunder put up five in a row to begin the second quarter to put the score at 10-1. Nikki Hibler added her name to the list of scorers in the period while Richmond added a pair of goals during the run. Keptner found the back of the net late in the quarter to make the halftime score 11-2.
The first time the scoreboard lit up in the third quarter made it a running clock. It was Gargiulo who shot one passed the keeper less than one minute into the frame. The Thunder continued to make easy work of their opponents by going up 17-3 early in the fourth quarter. The trio of Hibler, Rhodes and Hoag all converted man-up opportunities to lead the charge. The Bulldogs netted two late, but it was not enough to overcome the massive hole the home team had put them in.
Trine set a new season-high with a shot-on-goal percentage of 82.8% (24-for-29) and tied their season-best mark of 18 caused turnovers on defense. Goalkeeper Maddy Kasten made five saves and collected four groundballs for the team. Rhodes had the most goals (4) and groundballs (4) while Richmond led the way in points (8), Gargiulo had a team-high seven draw controls and Hoag caused five turnovers to pace the Thunder.
Trine hosts Alma College on Friday, April 21 as MIAA play continues at Shive Field. The opening draw control takes place at 7 p.m.
