ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's lacrosse team earned its second straight win on Saturday, defeating the visiting Cornell Rams by a score of 9-7.

The Vikings got on the board quickly thanks to Jack Connolly's goal from Carson Ghys just 24 seconds into the game. The two teams went scoreless for a little over five minutes until Elijah Graesser doubled Augie's advantage with an unassisted score to make it 2-0. Cornell notched a late strike with eight seconds remaining in the period to cut the margin back down to one heading into the second.

Augie added two more to its total in the second quarter, but the defense stole the show as they kept the Rams without another point through halftime. Graesser made it a 3-1 game with a man-down goal at the 12-minute mark before Ghys contributed a man-up score around the two-and-a-half minute mark. The Vikings led 4-1 at the break.

Cornell inched closer with the second half's first tally just 34 seconds in, but Augustana answered a minute later with Graesser's third goal of the game. The Rams held a slight advantage in the frame after securing another point with 6:57 to move the score to 5-3 entering the fourth. The Vikings began the final period with their second man-down goal of the evening, this time seeing one from Ghys before another tally by Graesser moved Augie's lead out to its largest of the game. Cornell answered with a pair of goals to pull within two, but back-to-back scores from Graesser and Jake Moore proved to be enough insurance as the team held on for the 9-7 win.

Graesser led all scorers with five goals, tying a career-high, while Ghys added two goals, an assist, and four ground balls. Defensively, the Vikings were anchored by Gus Magnusson's 17 saves in net. Trevor Herman also won eight of 10 faceoffs and picked up six ground balls.

With the win, Augustana improves to 2-4 on the season. The team will be back in action on Tuesday at Wabash.