ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's lacrosse team finished the regular season with an 11-6 road win over Kalamazoo College to take sole possession of fourth place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings.
The Hornets would strike first in the contest, scoring a goal just over two minutes into the first period. Freshman Charlie Anderson (Howell, Mich. / Hartland) responded for the Thunder with just under nine minutes remaining in the first. Sophomore Colin Custer (Spanaway, Wash. / Bethel) then gave the team their first lead of the game with just two minutes remaining. The 2-1 score would hold into the first break of the day.
Neither team would score for most of the second quarter. Kalamazoo would break the stalemate with just under five minutes left in the quarter tying the game at two.
Over the final four minutes of the half, Trine would score three goals. Junior Andrew Douglas (Liberty Twp., Ohio / Lakota East) came up with the first goal retaking the lead at 3-2 with a man-up goal. Two minutes later senior Matt Zanichelli (Rolling Meadows, Ill. / William Fremd) scored a man-up goal of his own, before Douglas finished off the period with another goal making the score 5-2 heading into halftime.
The Thunder built their lead further in the third quarter, outscoring the home team 2-1. Custer would score first and junior Noah Markus (Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge) would finish off the period with his own to make the score 7-3.
The fourth quarter featured seven total goals with Trine scoring four to build to the final lead of 11-6. Senior Austin Lindell (Geneva, Ill. / Geneva) and junior Jack Konicek (Geneva, Ill. / Geneva) joined Anderson and Douglas in recording goals in the period.
In goal sophomore Nick DiPaolo (Flemington, N.J. / Immaculate) turned in another solid performance allowing just the six goals while putting up eight saves and three groundballs.
Konicek finished the game 11 for 19 in the faceoff circle while tying for a lead on the team with six groundballs. Senior Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow) also came up with six groundballs while adding three caused turnovers to his impressive season total. Seniors Bryce Salmmon (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Rochester Adams) and Quin Kubiak (Chicago, Ill. / St. Francis) both also caused three turnovers in the game.
Trine finishes the regular season 9-4 overall and 3-3 in MIAA play following the win. They will travel to face Hope College during the middle of next week to compete in the opening round of the MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament as the fourth seed. Stay tuned for details on the game.
