Box Score 
Junior Christina McCabe had two goals and three assists Wednesday,
but Augustana dropped a 10-9 decision to Aurora at Thorson-Lucken Field.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Aurora scored three straight goals midway through the second half Wednesday to take the lead for good and went on to a 10-9 win over Augustana at Thorson-Lucken Field. The Vikings dropped to 6-3 on the year, while the Spartans improved to 4-3.
The hosts drew first blood when junior
Bailey Aasen (Park HS, Cottage Park, Minn.) scored off a feed from classmate
Christina McCabe (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) less than a minute and a half in. The teams traded goals until Taylor Arcivar scored with 12:12 left in the first half to give Aurora its first lead, 3-2.
Aasen and
Carla Bennett (Marian Catholic HS, South Holland, Ill.) added first half goals for Augustana, with Marina Kanner and Kerli Kuuseoks answering for the Spartans, as the visitors took a 5-4 lead to halftime.
After the teams swapped the first two scores of the second stanza,
Emily Lucnik (Schaumburg HS, Schaumburg, Ill.) pulled the Vikings even at 6-6 with a free position goal at the 24:46 mark. However, over the next eight minutes, Aurora would score three straight. By the time Andrea Colford found the net with 16 minutes remaining, the Spartans led 9-6.
Goals by Bennett and Lucnik pulled Augustana to within one, but Colford made it 10-8 with a tally at the 8:26 mark. McCabe scored off a free position opportunity with four minutes to play, but the Vikings couldn't mount another threat before time ran out.
McCabe finished with two goals and three assists. Bennett, Aasen and Lucnik each scored twice as well. Lucnik led Augustana with five draw controls and Bennett caused a team-high three turnovers. Senior goalie
Annalia Fowler (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded 12 saves and led the Vikings with four ground balls.
Colford's four goals led the way for Aurora. Reilley Armstrong stopped nine shots in goal.
The Spartans outshot Augustana by a 29-18 margin, led 24-17 in ground balls and controlled 11 of 19 draws.
The Vikings open College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play on Wednesday, April 4 at North Central. First draw is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
