HOLLAND, Mich. – Top-seeded Hope College was too much for the Trine University men's lacrosse team, despite a strong effort in the opening round of the 2022 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). The team would bow out of the tournament following the 13-9 loss.
The defenses came to play in the contest, with neither team scoring over the first seven and a half minutes of the contest. The Flying Dutch would eventually score the first goal at the halfway mark of the period before making it a 2-0 lead with 3:25 remaining in the quarter.
The Thunder's first goal came a minute later from sophomore Klein Burkholder (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg) cutting the deficit back to one. Unfortunately Hope responded quickly to take back the lead, before Trine freshman Charlie Anderson (Howell, Mich. / Hartland) scored the final goal of the period to send the game to its first break at 3-2.
The Flying Dutch would build a more convincing lead over the majority of the second quarter. They would go on a 5-1 run in the first 12 minutes of the period. The lone goal for the Thunder during the stretch came from freshman Patrick Doyle (Fishers, Ind. / Cathedral).
Trine would respond in the waning minutes of the period with their own 3-0 run. Sophomore Collin Custer (Spanaway, Wash. / Bethel) would score the first with 2:31 remaining followed by Doyle and Anderson picking up their seconds in the final minute of the half. The run made the score 8-6 at the intermission.
Hope erased the gains with a 3-0 run to start the half. The Thunder would once again find some footing in the final minutes of the quarter with Custer and Doyle scoring a goal each.
Senior Austin Lindell (Geneva, Ill. / Geneva) would score the final goal of the game for Trine with just under eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Flying Dutch scored two in the fourth quarter to build their lead to its final 13-9.
The loss still featured a strong defensive effort from the Thunder who held the opposition six goals below their MIAA season average. Two players would headline that effort. Senior Dave Keptner (Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow) would finish off his final season with another great performance. He finished with five caused turnovers and seven groundballs both tallies were game highs for either team.
In net, sophomore Nick DiPaolo (Flemington, N.J. / Immaculate) once again kept the team in the game. He finished with 19 saves in the contest despite allowing 13 goals.
The team finishes the season 9-5 overall following the loss.
