ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's lacrosse team opener their 2023 season on Saturday, falling to the visiting Calvin Knights by a final of 23-11 from Thorson-Lucken Field.

After the Knights notched the opening goal, the Vikings responded with consecutive scores from Carson Ghys to take their first lead. Ghys added another in the first, followed by one more from Brenson Brown to bring their first-quarter point total to four. Calvin grabbed the final two scores of the period to even things heading into the second.

Jack Connolly earned a power-play goal to reclaim the lead for Augie to begin the second, but the team was met with three straight from Calvin to fall behind 7-5. Matteo Uccelli stopped the run from the Knights, but one more for the visitors gave them a 8-6 lead heading into halftime.

For the second straight quarter, the Vikings struck first, seeing a goal from Elijah Graesser to begin the third. Calvin answered with four in a row to close the quarter and one more to begin the fourth to bring their scoring run to five. The Knights tallied nine goals in the final frame to pull away from the Vikings and win 23-11.

Ghys led the Vikings with four goals on eight shots. Trevor Herman added a team-high 17 ground balls, while Jake Weinberg and Paul Huber each contributed two caused turnovers. Gus Magnusson stopped 13 shots in net.

Augustana drops to 0-1 with the loss. The team will be back in action at home next Saturday, February 26 against Northwestern (Minn.)