ANGOLA, Ind. – In a highly contested game, the Trine University men's lacrosse was handed its first loss of the season by visiting Oberlin College. The game was tied late in third quarter, but the Yeomen pulled away to a 12-9 victory.
It looked like it could be rough game for the Thunder with the visitors scoring the first three goals of the game over a five-minute span. Then Collin Custer put the home team on the board with just under five minutes remaining in the period. Riley Fischer followed up two minutes later to put the team back within one. Then in the waning seconds of the period Mason Levin was nearly across the 50 yard line when he saw an empty net and capitalized despite the long distance.
The two teams went back-and-forth during the second quarter, ending the half tied at six. JJ Boos scored the first two for the Thunder, with Rocco Curatola adding the third.
After the buckling under the initial barrage, Luke Arnold played a spectacular game in net for Trine. He finished the first half with six saves and then nearly doubled that total in the second to finish the day with 17. In a game that saw the Thunder struggle in possession stats, including faceoffs and clears where the Yeomen dominated, Arnold was crucial to the tight contest.
Trine struck first in the second half, with Justin Scheberle giving the team its first lead of the day. Oberlin quickly responded to tie the game again just over 30 seconds later. Curatola set up Will Gonia in the seventh minute of the period to give the team a lead again at 8-7.
The final three minutes of the period and the next 10 minutes of the fourth were all in favor of the visitors who scored four straight to build an 11-8 lead. Arnold was forced into his heaviest action during that time, recording a large portion of his 11 second half saves.
Levin had one more impressive play in store for the Thunder's final goal. He passed the ball the length of the field finding Mitchell Volgewede in front of the net to cut the lead to 11-9 with 3:14 remaining. Oberlin scored their final goal just outside of two minutes remaining to set the score to its final of 12-9.
Levin and Curatola both finished the game with a goal and an assist, tying Boos for two points atop the team stats. In addition to his impressive goal and assist, Levin also led the team with six groundballs. Danny Kelly and J'Oshua Shaw led the team with two caused turnovers each.
