LISLE, Ill. – Augustana men's lacrosse (0-1) kicked off their 2022 season with a 12-8 loss at Benedictine (1-0). The Eagles and Vikings fought through a well-contested contest with early offense from the hosts proving to be the difference.
 
Augustana got on the board first with an Elijah Graesser goal after an assist by John Calabrese. Later in the first period, Benedictine drew even on an unassisted goal by Mateo Salceda before Augie's Brady Holtz recaptured the Viking lead with his first score of the season. Benedictine eventually took their first lead of the game after Thomas Tillett knotted the score and Will Robinson found the back of the net with just one second on the clock.
 
The offensive prowess continued in the second period as the Eagles scored four goals to Augustana's three. Shaver started the quarter with a goal assisted by Jack Preston. Benedictine bounced back, though, and rattled off three unanswered scores to build a 6-3 advantage. Tillett found the net again before Shane Forsythe scored for the Vikings to reach a 7-5 margin at the half.
 
Tillett and Joe Spahn started the second half with a pair of Eagle goals to give the hosts a four-score advantage. The Vikings refused to go down easily and battled back with a pair of goals from Carson Ghys and Mark Teschke. Despite the effort, Augustana could not claw within a three-goal margin and fell 12-8.
 
Shaver and Teschke led the Vikings with two goals each in a combined six shots on goal. Forsythe was the only Augie player to record a goal and assist. Calabrese led Augie with a pair of assists and 11 ground balls.
 
The Vikings will return to Rock Island for their next contest. Augie and MSOE will face off at 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at Thorson-Lucken Field.