KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A strong second quarter helped propel the Trine University women's lacrosse team to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Championship game with a 15-11 win at Kalamazoo College. Trine moves to 12-5 overall after securing an MIAA Semifinal win and Kalamazoo's season comes to an end at 10-4.

The Thunder will face Hope College on the road on Saturday, May 4 for an opportunity to obtain the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Hope defeated Albion College by a mark of 17-7 on Wednesday.

The Hornets struck first with a pair of free position scores in the opening minutes of the game, but Elizabeth Larson countered with two goals of her own to draw back to even. Courtney Rhodes netted two goals of her own inside the final two minutes to provide the Thunder with a 4-3 lead after the first quarter.

Those goals would spark a 6-0 run for Trine and the team scored four goals to begin the second period. Brooke Hoag, Danielle Gargiulo and Nikki Hibler added their names to the scoring column before Rhodes put another one passed the opposing goalie to make it 8-3. Hoag would score goals two and three on the night to go up 10-4 at the halfway point.

The teams traded three goals each in the third quarter to keep the gap where it was. Just as in the second quarter, Hoag had two goals just before the horn to conclude the period. Calista Richmond was responsible for two assists in the third to give her four on the night.

Kalamazoo gave it one final gasp in the remaining 15 minutes, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Trine advanced to their second ever MIAA Tournament Championship game. Gargiulo was able to put the game away with two scores to help get to the 15-11 final score.

The Hornets won the draw control circle 18-11, but key saves in net by Maddy Kasten helped to keep Kalamazoo at bey. Kasten would end the night with 11 saves in total with a 50% save percentage. Larson led the team with six ground balls and five caused turnovers while Gargiulo had a team-high four draw controls.

A win on Saturday would mark the program's first MIAA Tournament Championship and lead to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance.