ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's water polo team wrapped up its regular season on Sunday with a pair of home victories, defeating the Connecticut College Camels by a score of 27-6 before besting the Penn State Behrend Lions by a final of 22-5.
Augie scored nine times in the opening quarter against the Camels, seeing goals from five different Vikings.
Oskar Bannister scored four times in the frame to lead the team to a 9-1 advantage after eight minutes of action. A pair of 5-1 margins followed in favor of the Vikings in each of the second and third quarters. All five goals in the second came from different players to help lead the team to a 14-2 lead at the break. In the third,
Rhys Lomax notched two of the team's five tallies, while Bannister grabbed his fifth goal of the contest. Another big quarter ensued as Augustana put up an eight-goal fourth period to coast to the 21-point victory.
Ian Palmroos secured two of his four goals in the final frame.
A total of 12 Vikings contributed at least one goal in the win, led by five apiece from Lomax and Bannister.
Declan Hutton stopped 10 shots in 16 minutes of action in net.
In the finale against the Lions, it was another fast start for Augie, putting up seven goals through eight minutes to begin the game. After Penn State Behrend notched the first score of the contest, Bannister evened the score before Lomax added two to give Augie a lead. Three different Vikings scored twice in the quarter to make it 7-3 heading into the second. Another seven-goal period followed, this time seeing six different Vikings find the back of the net.
Stevan Rasic was the lone member to grab multiple scores, helping the lead the team to a 14-4 lead at the break.
Augustana out-scored Penn State Behrend 8-1 through the final two quarters, which included a scoreless frame for the Lions in the fourth. The Vikings tallied 12 of the game's final 13 goals to win by a 17-point margin.
Lomax again led the team with five goals, while
Henry Sothern secured 23 saves in goal for the Vikings.
With the wins, Augie improves to 13-5 overall and finishes the MPSF regular season with a 6-0 record. The Vikings have clinced the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MPSF Tournament, with their opening round opponent still to be determined.
