Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana scored early and often in its home opener on Saturday, March 14 against Adrian and went on to post a 19-1 non-conference victory in women's lacrosse action. It was the first time on the comfortable surroundings at Thorson-Lucken Field in 2015 not only for the Vikings but also for first-year head coach Meredith Newman.
 
Eight goals in the first 10 minutes of action eliminated any doubt and Augustana romped to the win over a team that was an NCAA Division III playoff competitor last year. Adrian is also the only team to have a victory over the Vikings on the Thorson-Lucken turf. That came on March 16, 2013, almost two years to the day of this game.
 
Senior Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) scored an unassisted goal just :13 into the game to give Newman's team a lead it never relinquished. It was 3-0 before the game was two minutes old after goals by sophomore Anne Hopkins (Mother McAuley HS, Chicago, Ill.) and Rebecca Pollard (Westfield HS, Carmel, Ind.). Senior Emily Pavlik (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange, Ill.) assisted on Hopkins' goal and senior Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) had the assist on the goal by Pollard.
 
Hopkins, with Kargl assisting, Stelzer unassisted and Kargl, off a feed from Hopkins, pushed the advantage to 6-0 at the 26:00 mark. Junior Shelby Cosman (Marian Catholic HS, St. John, Ind.) scored the seventh goal at 23:42 with junior Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) notching the assist.
 
Pollard, Cosman and Hopkins then scored the next three goals. When Pollard dented the nets at 18:00 off a free-position shot, the running clock was enacted.
 
At halftime the score was 13-0 and the shutout lasted until just 3:20 remained in the game. Adrian's TaShina Sala scored unassisted to make it 19-1.
 
Kargl led the Vikings with five goals and three assists while Cosman and Hopkins each had three goals. Hopkins had three assists. Junior Kaylee Nolan had two goals, three assists and was the team leader in both draw controls (9) and ground balls (3). Senior Bridgett Conniff (Benet Academy, Downers Grove, Ill.) had three caused turnovers.
 
Augustana completely dominated the statistics, posting 33 shots to just eight for the Bulldogs. The Vikings picked up 13 grounds to eight for Adrian and won 18 of 19 draw controls.
 
Junior Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HS, Littleton, Colo.) picked up the victory in goal as she worked the first half before giving way to freshman Analia Fowler (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) for the second 30 minutes of action.
 
The Vikings are now 3-1 on the season and will be in action again on Sunday, March 22 at home against Alma at 11:00 a.m.