MONTGOMERY, Ill. – In the opening game of the 2021 men's lacrosse season, Augustana fell just short in an 8-7 non-conference loss against Aurora on Saturday, February 20 in Montgomery, Illinois. The Vikings of head coach Dan Lloyd fell behind early and battled back but were unable to force overtime in the final seconds.
 
After Aurora scored on its first offensive possession with an unassisted goal by Zach Bernstein, Augustana tallied twice in just over half a minute to take a 2-1 advantage. The initial goal of the 2021 season for the Vikings came from senior Steve Robertson (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) and it was unassisted at 12:09. Senior Trever Moore (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.), who would end the game with a team-high four goals, put Augustana ahead 2-1 with a goal at the 11:34 mark.
 
After the 2-1 advantage, the Vikings allowed Aurora to score four of the next five goals. Only a goal by Moore at 6:18 snapped the Spartans run. When Aurora's Jacob Rimkus scored with just :58 left in the first half the home team had a 5-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Junior William Reece (Hudson HS, Hudson, Wis.) scored early in the second quarter to trim the margin to 5-4 at 11:39. Aurora took at 6-4 lead into halftime with a goal at the 1:12 mark by Harrison Canady.
 
Aurora scored early in the third quarter to go ahead 7-4. A goal by sophomore Bob Robertson (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) with 12:09 left made it 7-5 before Bernstein scored for the Spartans to push the lead to 8-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Moore scored early (11:43) and late (1:26) to cut the edge to 8-7 but that was as far as the Vikings could get.
 
Aurora held a 36-26 advantage in shots and 25-21 in ground balls while the Vikings held a slight edge in face-offs at 10 of 19.
 
Junior John Calabrese (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) won all 10 of the face-offs claimed by the Vikings and he also snared eight ground balls.
 
Junior Cameron Duffy (Glenbrook South HS, Glenview, Ill.) was in goal for Augustana and had eight saves.
 
Augustana is scheduled to play again on Saturday, February 27 at home against Benedictine with face-off set for 1:00 p.m. at Thorson-Lucken Field.