DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre took control with four straight first-half goals Saturday and went on to defeat Augustana 12-8 at Farris Stadium. The Vikings fell to 1-3 on the year, while the Colonels improved to 3-2.

 

After Centre's Nic Malubay got his team on the board with a goal just inside the 10-minute mark of the first quarter, Augustana answered with two to take its only lead of the game. Jack Preston (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) scored a minute after Malubay and William Reece (Hudson HS, Hudson, Ill.) added a goal two minutes later to give the Vikings a 2-1 advantage.
 
Colonel Leland Gray scored off a Jack Shannon assist to tie the game at the six minute-mark and parlayed a Vincent Pisacano assist into the go-ahead goal three minutes later and Centre led 3-2 after one period.
 
Malubay opened the second quarter scoring and Gary assisted on a Chase Poplin tally that gave the hosts a 5-2 lead. Lee Whorwell's (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) goal off an assist from Jason Van Dyck (Crystal Lake South HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) stemmed the tide temporarily, but a J.R. Brockman goal and two by John Morrison stretched the margin to 8-3. Shane Forsythe (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) scored off a Reece helper in the final minute and the teams went to the locker room with Colonels on top 8-4.
 
Third-quarter goals by Shannon and William Latharm pushed Centre's lead to 10-4 before Whorwell sandwich a pair around one by Reece to pull Augustana to within 10-7. That's as close at the visitors would get however, as Gray scored on a man advantage early in the fourth quarter and Anthony DiMichele added the Colonels' final score of the day. Joey Kreis' (Mundelein HS, Mundelein, Ill.) goal with 4½ minutes to play accounted for the final.
 
Whorwell led the Viking attack with three goals. Reece scored twice and Travis Hastings (Englewood HS, Littleton, Colo.) dished out a pair of assists. Matt Pierson (Montini HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) finished with team highs of six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Matt Balara (St. Charles North HS, Elburn, Ill.) was also credited with three caused turnovers. John Calabrese (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) won seven of 12 faceoffs and Cameron Duffy (Glenbrook South HS, Glenview, Ill.) recorded 10 saves in goal.
 
Gray's three goals led Centre and goalie Connor Jongewaard stopped 10 Augustana shots.
 
The team stats were close, with Centre holding advantages of 35-29 in shots, 22-18 in shots on goal and 32-27 in ground balls. Augustana won 13 of 24 faceoffs and committed 22 turnovers to 21 for the Colonels.
 
Coach Dan Torie's squad will be back in action on Wednesday, March 13, taking on Milwaukee School of Engineering in a 7:00 p.m. contest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.