Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Two goals in the first 20 minutes of play proved to be too much to overcome as Augustana fell to Illinois Wesleyan 3-0 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin opener for both teams on Saturday, October 3 in Bloomington, Illinois. The Titans staked themselves to an early lead and Augustana was unable to generate much on the offensive end.
 
The game was not yet three minutes old before Illinois Wesleyan had a 1-0 lead. Drake Leary scored on a corner kick at 2:23 to give the Titans an early 1-0 lead they would not relinquish. Dino Karas tallied at 19:53 off an assist by Mason Maier to make it 2-0 and that's the way the score stood at halftime.
 
In the second half Illinois Wesleyan once again scored early as Mitch Billimack tallied off an assist from Leary at 49:51, less than five minutes after intermission.
 
Augustana was outshot 18-9 in the game although the Vikings did hold an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks. Illinois Wesleyan used two goalkeepers (Erick Eklin and Craig Kym) to post the shutout as each one recorded two saves.
 
Senior Jonathan Colucci (Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream, Ill.) had three of Augustana's nine shots and two of them were on-goal.
 
The Vikings are now 3-8-1 on the season and 0-1-0 in the CCIW while Illinois Wesleyan moves to 4-4-2 and 1-0-0 in the CCIW.
 
Augustana will host Simpson in a non-conference game on Wednesday, October 7 with an unusual 6:00 p.m. start at Thorson-Lucken Field.