Box Score Three minutes into the Midwest Lacrosse Conference tournament semi-final game, Scott Davis (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Overland Park, Kan.) put the Augustana men's lacrosse team up over Aurora on Wednesday, April 30^th. Despite the early lead, the Vikings fell 15-6 in their rematch against the Spartans and moved to 9-7 on the season.
 
Aurora retaliated after falling behind early and fired off three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead with 5:48 to go in the opening period. Head coach Kyle Hart's unit got the final say in the quarter when Colin Haley (St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Ill.) pulled the Vikings within one at 3-2.
 
Only two goals were tallied in the second quarter, both belonging to Aurora at the 7:52 and 7:18 marks in the period. The Spartans entered the intermission up 5-2 over Augustana. Aurora held a 24-7 shot advantage in the opening half and also controlled six of the nine face-offs.
 
The third period did not treat the visitors much better as Aurora scored six more unanswered goals for an 11-2 cushion. In the stanza the hosts dominated with a 14-4 margin in the shots category.  Augustana possessed just one of seven face-offs in the period while forfeiting eight turnovers.
 
Less than a minute into the final period Augustana ended the eight-goal streak by the Spartans when Kevin Gleason (Loyola Academy, Chicago, Ill.) capitalized on a man-up opportunity. Less than a minute later Alexander Crescenti (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) found the back of the net to make it 11-4 Aurora. The Spartans answered with a pair of goals of their own before an up-goal by Davis made it 13-5. Aurora scored two of the final three goals with Jesse Nagelberg (St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Ill.) getting the tally for Augustana.
 
Davis led the Augustana offense with two goals while Haley, Crescenti, Gleason, and Nagelberg each scored once. Haley also had an assist for Hart's crew along with Vincent Giglierano (Archbishop Mitty HS, San Jose, Calif.) and Jared Hawkins (Everett HS, Everett, Wash.).
 
Augustana gathered 12 ground balls in the contest as Tyler Amidei (Vernon Hills HS, Vernon Hills, Ill.), Zach McGinnis (New Trier HS, Kenilworth, Ill.), and Jonathan Bryk (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) each registered a pair.
 
Jack Peters (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) got the nod in the net for the Vikings. Peters recorded 16 saves in the contest while allowing 15 goals.  Aurora had seven saves in the contest including five in the final period.
 
Hart's crew wrapped up the season with a loss in the league tournament semi-finals for the second straight year. This year Augustana clenched the fourth spot while it was the third seed last season. The Vikings finished 3-3 at home for the 2014 campaign while going 6-4 on the road.