FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Augustana Vikings women's lacrosse team toppled the Franklin Grizzlies on the road Thursday by a 20-10 final. 

Augie struck first in the non-conference battle, with Elena Bechard nabbing the goal at the 14:38 mark in the first quarter. The Grizzlies answered with two scores prior to Bechard leveling the game with her second of the contest. Franklin scored again at 7:48 before Bechard found the equalizer 10 seconds later, claiming a first-period hat trick. Augustana grabbed the momentum, exploding for four straight goals as Cassidy Petrie scored on a free-position strike, Madison Langewisch seized two goals, and Bechard added her fourth to put the Vikings ahead 7-3. The two teams exchanged goals to end the high-scoring opening period at an 8-4 score.

Claire Kim sent in a goal at the 11:56 mark in the second period before the Grizzlies scored three straight to cut the lead to two. Augie answered with three goals in a row, tying their largest lead of the game at five with strikes from Langewisch, Kim, and Bechard. The Grizzlies netted their final goal of the half with 1:42 remaining, but it was canceled out by a Langewisch goal with 37 seconds showing on the clock, giving the Vikings a 13-8 halftime lead.

Augie secured five straight goals out of the break to double their advantage, seeing two scores apiece from Bechard and Petrie before Kim sent in an unassisted shot at 1:29 left in the frame. The Grizzlies added a score late, but saw an immediate response from Langewisch to push the score to 19-9. The two teams traded scores in the fourth to secure Augie the 10-point victory to remain undefeated on the road. 

Bechard led the Vikings with seven goals to help fuel the team to their highest scoring output of the season. Langewisch was close behind with six, followed by Petrie with four and Kim with three. Augie caused 13 turnovers and grabbed 19 ground balls, paced in both categories by Narita Lambert with four and five, respectively. Rachel Forman had 17 saves in 60 minutes of action. 

The Vikings improve to 5-3 with the victory. The team will return home to open their conference slate against the Illinois Wesleyan Titans on Saturday, April 8. Start time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Thorson-Lucken Field.