ALBION, Mich. - It was the first postseason game in the history of the Trine lacrosse program, but the Thunder ran into their old foe Albion College on their home turf, where Trine lost earlier in the season, 15-9, was not going to be an easy task. The result was a Thunder loss, as Trine (8-8, 4-2 MIAA) was unable to overcome a large first quarter hole on their way to a 14-4 defeat.

Trine struggled to both ride and clear, going 8-for-18 on clearing attempts while allowing the Britons to get too many easy looks downfield in an 18-for-21 outing. The Thunder won only two major statistical categories, saves (15-to-14) and face-offs (12-for-21). Albion capitalized on four extra-man opportunities to go with the +20 advantage in shots were huge factors in the win.

In the first quarter, Trine spent a great deal of time on its own defensive end. As a result, the Trine defense faced 11 shots in the period, the first of three straight double digit shooting periods for Albion. The Thunder were only down 1-0 until late in the first before three goals were given up in the final 4:38 of the period.

Signs of life for Trine would appear from the offense in the form of senior midfielder Dalton Madsen (Westminster, Colo. /Northglenn). Madsen caught his defender off-guard, driving towards the goal while the Thunder was subbing on their midfielders. The tactic worked beautifully, and it was 4-1 moments into the second. Albion's answer would again come from Genord, as the Britons would also add their first man-up goal midway through the period, followed by another on a different penalty 90 seconds later. Albion put the finishing touches on a hat trick to close out the first half scoring.

Facing a deep hole and only getting deeper, Trine couldn't put more than a minor dent into the 8-1 deficit. Albion scored early in the third before freshman George Youpel (Chicago Ridge, Ill./St Rita) put two right handed step down shots home on extra-man opportunities. The Britons scored the last two goals in the third, one in an even situation and another on man-up to lead 11-3 heading into the fourth.

Albion managed to snag another goal on another man-up chance to start the period. Trine would get its last goal from freshman Jack Brown (Middletown, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) less than two minutes later. Brown swung around from behind the net, got a step, and managed to connect on a shot to the top right corner. Scoring would be closed out on goals by Albion that came within 10 seconds of each other, the last with 5:26 to play. The result was a bitter tasting 14-4 loss that ended the Thunder's season and should provide plenty of motivation for them this offseason.

In goal for the Thunder, sophomore Austin Helm (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) suffered his first loss of the season despite making a season-high 15 saves.

Junior Rob Brzezinski (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) led the Thunder with a game-high six groundballs while going 11-of-20 on faceoffs.