ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's soccer team ended a three-game winless streak with a 5-3 victory against Indiana University-Northwest that featured a two goal and three assist effort by senior Nooh Aljabaly (Coldwater, Mich./Coldwater) in non-conference play at Weaver Field in Angola, Ind.
The Thunder offense got off to a slow start to begin the game, but got on the board during the 20th minute when sophomore Trevor Towghi (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) found the back of the net with a helper from Aljabaly to put Trine ahead, 1-0. Just under two minutes later, Trine (4-4) struck again with another score, this time off the foot of sophomore Brian Morris (Metamora, Mich./Lapeer) with assists from fellow sophomore Connor Malmquist (Valparaiso, Ind./Morgan Township) and Aljabaly.
Later in the half, IU-Northwest (1-11) got in the scoring column with a goal at the 30:01 mark on a penalty kick to make it a 2-1 game.
With less than 10 minutes to go before halftime, Aljabaly netted his first goal of the game at the 38:16 mark to extend the Thunder advantage back to a pair of goals, 3-1. Towghi added to his earlier goal with an assist on the Aljabaly score to finish the day with a three points.
Aljabaly's goal ended the scoring in the first half as Trine took its two-goal lead into the intermission.
Aljabaly picked up where he left off in the first half to begin the final period with another goal just over two-and-a-half minutes in that made the score 4-1. The final goal of the contest for Trine came right at the 52nd minute when freshman Cedric Carbajal (El Paso, Texas/Bel Air) scored off of a pass from Aljabaly to pad the lead to 5-1.
The final two scores of the game were both tallied by the Redhawks beginning with a marker at the 68:37 mark that narrowed the gap to 5-2. IU-Northwest then got another goal just before the game clock expired on a header, but the overall outcome was already sealed as Trine went on to the 5-3 final.
In net, freshman Dylan Bastin (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) saw his first action of the season and played all 90 minutes to earn the win. He made one save on four shots faced.
Trine will begin Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play on Tuesday, Oct. 8 when it hosts Albion (Mich.) College. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Weaver Field.
