Box Score Despite being outscored 6-1 over the final 16:51 of the match, the Augustana women's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought victory over Denison at Thorson-Lucken Field on Saturday, April 5th.  The 15-14 thriller against Denison marked the eighth different state that the 8-0 Vikings have beaten an opponent from.
 
Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) assisted a school-record six goals on the afternoon and also scored a goal of her own. The previous record of five assists in a single game was held by Hannah Dickman (4/2/12), Christina Letmanski (4/23/13), Kate Zisser (Kirkwood HS, St. Louis, Mo.) (4/27/13), and Rebecca Pollard (Westfield HS, Carmel, Ind.) (4/1/14).
 
The Vikings held an early 2-0 advantage before Denison tied the game at the 22:53 mark. A Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) tally gave head coach Sara Tisdale's crew a 3-2 advantage that last 36 seconds before the Big Red evened the contest at 3-3. Augustana went on a 7-1 run before Denison made the score 10-5 on a free position goal at the 3:45 mark in the opening half. Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) found the back of the net on a man-up opportunity with 1:38 remaining before Denison scored twice to end the half.
 
Tisdale's crew pushed its lead to 13-7 with 21:46 remaining in the non-conference contest but would not score consecutive goals again. A Denison score moved the Red Men to within five before Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) gave the Vikings a 14-8 lead with 17:32 remaining.
 
Denison scored four unanswered goals in the span between16:51 and 10:55 to cut the host's lead to two before Stelzer found the net for her fourth goal of the day and a 15-12 Augustana advantage. Denison scored again at the 8:40 and :44 marks in the game but fell short of handing the undefeated Augustana program its first loss of the season.
 
Pollard and Stelzer led the Vikings' offense as each tallied four goals on the day for Tisdale's squad. Mayer found the back of the net three times in the contest. Handrahan tallied a pair of goals accompanied by two assists. Shelby Cosman (Marion Catholic HS, St. John, Ind.) scored a goal on the afternoon as well.
 
Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HS, Littleton, Colo.) was credited with the win in the net for the blue and gold and moved to 6-0 on the season following her 38:15 in goal. Sarah Osier (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) played the final 21:45 on the game and recorded all five saves in the match for the contest while allowing only six goals.
 
Kaylee Nolan (Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) accumulated 12 of the 18 Augustana draw controls on the afternoon, while the Big Red were held to 13 in total.
 
Augustana outshot the visitors by a 34-26 margin with a 25-10 advantage at the intermission. The Vikings collected 21 ground balls to Denison's 16 on the afternoon. Mayer had a game-high five ground balls. Cori Duncan (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) caused three of the Big Red's 25 turnovers and also added two ground balls for the Vikings.
 
Tisdale's crew has little time for rest as it takes on the Duhawks of Loras on Sunday, April 6th in a Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference match-up at Thorson-Lucken Field. The Vikings will enter the contest at 8-0 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Loras sits at 3-7 and 2-3 in the MWLC. Augustana won the only meeting between the two programs by a 21-0 margin in 2013.