HOLLAND, Mich. – The Trine University men's lacrosse team kept the season going by toppling the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season champions from Hope College in the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Thunder erased a three-goal deficit to secure an 8-6 victory and a spot in the finals.

Trine opened the scoring in the game with Rocco Curatola netting a shot with 9:24 remaining in the first quarter. Riley Fischer added an assist. After the Flying Dutch knotted the game, Mitchell Voglewede retook the lead with just under three minutes remaining in the period.

The home team tied the game again early in the second quarter and then took their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes remaining before halftime. Vin Pantano answered for the Thunder to send the game to intermission tied 3-3.

Hope came out on a roll in the third period, scoring three goals in the first five minutes of the second half. Voglewede set up Fischer for an answering goal late in the period, cutting the deficit to 6-4 heading into the final period.

Voglewede cut further into the lead early in the fourth, scoring an unassisted goal to make the score 6-5. Both defenses locked back in for the next eight minutes of play. Then Landen Kruse tied the game again with 4:23 remaining, with Pantano adding an assist. Two minutes later the Thunder retook the lead with Voglewede scoring his third of the day and another assist to Pantano. Kruse iced the game in the final minute with the final goal of the day.

Voglewede led the way with his four points, including his second hat trick of the season.

Defensively, Mason Kaufmann led the way with four caused turnovers and five groundballs in the contest. Mason Levin finished second with two caused turnovers and three groundballs. Luke Arnold was a wall in net for the team, making 13 saves and recording four groundballs to secure the

The Thunder improve to 14-5 overall following the victory, the first against Hope since 2016. They will make the program's first appearance in the MIAA Tournament championships game on Friday, May 2. The game will again be on the road taking place at Albion College. The Britons won the regular season matchup on Trine's home turf by the score of 11-4 and hold a 16-game winning streak against the Thunder.