Box Score Despite jumping out to an early 2-0 lead the Augustana men's lacrosse team fell to Carthage by a score of 11-9 at Thorson-Lucken Field on Wednesday, April 16th. The loss snapped a six-game win streak by the Vikings that dated back to March 15th when the blue and gold lost its first conference game to Concordia (Wis.) in overtime. Head coach Kyle Hart's squad moved to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference while Carthage climbed to 12-4 and 6-1 in the league.
 
Jesse Nagelberg (St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Ill.) and Kevin Gleason (Loyola Academy, Chicago, Ill.) opened up the scoring for the Vikings for the 2-0 advantage before the Red Men responded with three straight scores to close out the opening period.  At the 12:14 mark of the second quarter Jared Hawkins (Everett HS, Everett, Wash.) found the back of the net to even the score at 3-3 which marked the last time that Carthage would not lead in the contest.  The visitors scored three of the next four goals to take a 6-4 lead into the intermission.
 
The Red Men opened the second half with a pair of goals in the first two minutes to break out to an 8-4 lead over Hart's crew. Augustana would not go away though as Alexander Crescenti (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) scored two goals just 28 seconds apart to bring the Vikings within two. Carthage scored at the 5:44 mark to push the lead to back to three but Gleason tallied his third score of the night to bring the score to 7-9 entering the final stanza.
 
Augustana held the visitors scoreless for the first six minutes of the quarter before Tim Francis got a shot past Augustana's Cody Burgdorff (Peak-to-Peak HS, Lafayette, Colo.) for a 10-7 advantage. Colin Haley (St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Ill.) found the net for his eighth goal of the year and then with 4:34 left Scott Davis (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Overland Park, Kan.) pulled the hosts within a single score as he registered his only goal of the contest. The Red Men shut down Hart's team for the remainder of the game and tallied an insurance goal with 1:40 remaining for the final 11-9 score.
 
Hart's team was led in scoring by Gleason with three goals while Crescenti added two more. Nagelberg scored once in addition to assisting a pair of Viking tallies. Davis registered one goal along with an assist while Haley and Hawkins each recorded a goal as well.
 
The Vikings scored on their only two first quarter shots while Carthage attempted 18 in the opening frame. At halftime Carthage held a 25-20 shot advantage which turned into a 41-33 margin by the final buzzer. Burgdorff recorded eight saves in the first quarter alone and finished the night with 10 opposed to seven by the visitors.
 
Carthage held a 38-28 advantage in ground balls over Hart's crew. Burgdorff and Ryan Nokomoto (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) led the blue and gold with four ground balls each. Turnovers were even at 19 apiece with the Vikings forcing seven Carthage turnovers in contrast to four caused turnovers by the Red Men. Junior Jeremy Gottardo (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) was responsible for two of the Carthage turnovers.
 
Next on the calendar for the Vikings is a trip to Fontbonne for an MLC contest scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 19th. The Griffins are currently 2-11 to go with a record of 1-6 in the league. Augustana holds a 2-0 advantage in previous meetings between the programs following a 15-4 win in 2013 and a 6-3 victory the year before.