ANGOLA, Ind. – In a battle for sole possession of first place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), Hope College defeated the Trine University women's lacrosse team on Saturday 18-10. Hope is now 9-4 on the season and 5-0 inside the league while the Thunder fall to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
A 23-9 difference in draw controls in favor of the Flying Dutch propelled them to victory behind a +13 difference in total shots at 37-24. Hope was also nearly perfect on clear attempts, going 14-for-15 while Trine was 17-for-22 themselves.
The Thunder took the lead early in the contest 2-1 behind goals from Danielle Gargiulo and Courtney Rhodes. Elizabeth Larson added a score on a man up opportunity and Rhodes found the back of the net once more just before the end of a 5-4 first quarter for the Flying Dutch.
Alyssa Keptner assisted on the team's first goal in the second quarter and scored herself later in the frame, but Hope extended the advantage to 9-6 at halftime. Maddy Kasten made eight saves in the first half to keep the deficit where it was.
Slowly but surely, the Flying Dutch pulled away and won the third quarter 4-3. Nikki Hibler and Brooke Hoag etched their names into the scoring column during the period, but after 15 minutes, it was 13-9 Hope. Lillian O'Neal found Hoag with under 30 seconds on the clock to try to build momentum for a comeback effort in the fourth quarter.
The Flying Dutch rattled off three in a row to start the fourth and eventually came away with an 18-10 victory at Shive Field. Rhodes notched her team-high third goal of the day on a free position attempt, but it was the only time the Thunder tickled the twine in the quarter.
Kasten (9-4) recorded 12 saves in total and picked up a team-high six groundballs. Hoag and Keptner collected three draw controls each while defenders Paige Hull and Evalyn Bellotti had two caused turnovers along with Hoag.
The Thunder are on the road for their penultimate game of the regular season at Kalamazoo College on Wednesday, April 24 beginning at 7 p.m.
