ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's lacrosse team will return to a familiar place on Friday evening, the MIAA Championship Game. For the third time in four years the Thunder will play for the MIAA crown. They earned their spot this afternoon with a thrilling 10-8 win over the Calvin Knights. Trine is now 11-4 (5-2 MIAA) and Calvin finishes their season 12-6 (5-2 MIAA).
 
Each of Trine's five All-MIAA selections played key roles in the win. First teamers Brooke Hoag and Alyssa Keptner each netted hat tricks and the pair combined for 7 ground balls and 4 caused turnovers. Freshman of the Year and second team selection Izabelle Dominski netted two goals and added a caused turnover, fellow second teamer Elizabeth Larson scored a goal, grabbed five ground balls, three draw controls, and caused a turnover. Evalyn Bellotti caused a pair of turnovers.
 
The game was a back and forth power struggle from start to finish. Calvin took a 1-0 lead early in the first quarter, Hoag responded with two goals to give Trine the 2-1 lead after one. Calvin quickly responded in the second quarter, scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the frame. Alyssa Lahutsky found Alyssa Keptner for the equalizer just a minute and a half later. Calvin would score the next two as the Knights captured the momentum. Hoag finished off a first half hat trick and Dominski scored both of her goals within a minute of each other as Trine tied the game at six heading to halftime.
 
Lightning delayed the start of the game by just over a half an hour, lightning stuck in the second half in the form of the Trine defense. Calvin scored twice to open the second half but the Thunder would hold the Knights scoreless over the final 24:38 of game time and allow the offense to methodically dismantle the Knight's advantage. Trine caused six Calvin turnovers in the second half and scooped up ground ball on two more and Kelsey Yanagihara made 7 of her 11 saves in the second half.
 
Hoag added her fourth goal of the game with 9:32 left in the third quarter, Keptner got help from Avelyn McCall to tie the score with 5:54 remaining and Larson gave Trine the lead with a third quarter buzzer beater. In the fourth quarter, Trine successfully killed two one minute penalties and Yanagihara made saves on two Knight free position attempts. Keptner completed her hat trick to give Trine some breathing room. She got the shot off as time expired on the shot clock and Lillian O'Neal earned an assist. Trine allowed one shot over the final 3:35 and it was turned away by Yanagihara.
 
Trine travels to top-seeded Hope College on Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. showdown for the MIAA title.