ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's lacrosse team overcame frigid temperatures on their way to another lopsided victory over visiting Carroll (Wis.) University by the score of 13-1.
The Thunder struck first in the contest to take an early lead. Junior Collin Custer scored the first two goals of the contest, both unassisted on tough drives through the center of the defense. He went on to assist on the third goal later in the same period. The team added a final goal in the waning seconds of the quarter when senior Andrew Douglas made a quick pass to junior Klein Burkholder who scored on the backside of the net.
The four goals gave the team a 4-1 lead after the first period. The lone goal for the Pioneers came down a man off of a Trine turnover.
The Thunder seemed to finally warm up in the second quarter, scoring seven goals and building an 11-1 lead for the half. Senior Noah Markus scored the first goal of the stanza and then added a second later on as well as an assist. Douglas got his lone goal of the day, while Custer and Burkholder each added to their totals. Sophomore Patrick Doyle and freshman Peter Piccillo each tallied a goal and an assist in the period to round out the scoring.
Trine would score their final two goals of the day in the third quarter. Sophomore Charlie Anderson got the first while Markus added his third of the day as the other. Neither team would score in the fourth and the game ended 13-1 in favor of the home side.
Defensively sophomore Zachary Norris led the way for the team in the midfield. He recorded four caused turnovers and added four ground balls. Senior Eli Pfotenhauer also had a great defensive day on his end of the field, he finished with three caused turnovers and seven groundballs. In net, junior Nick DiPaolo recorded the win and finished the game with four saves.
Recording perhaps the most impressive game of the day, however, was senior Jack Konicek who played a near perfect game in the faceoff circle. He went 16-for-17 on faceoffs with nine won without assistance to also give him a team-high nine groundballs.
Trine improves to 6-0 following the victory, tying the best start to a season in program history. They will look to take sole possession of that record when they travel to face Ohio Northern University on Wednesday, March 22. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
