DAVENPORT, Iowa -- The Augustana Vikings men's lacrosse team fell in an overtime battle on Thursday, defeated by the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees by a score of 14-13.
After the Bees notched the first two goals of the contest, Augie got on the board with a man-up strike from
Jake Moore. St. Ambrose answered with another 2-0 scoring spurt, but
Jack Connolly brought the Vikings within two on a pass from
Carson Ghys to close out the first 15 minutes of action.
A high-scoring frame followed in the second. The Bees saw their largest lead of the first half following two goals to begin the quarter, but the Vikings responded with a 5-0 scoring run to flip a four-point deficit into a one-point lead. The outburst lasted five minutes for Augie, beginning with a tally from Ghys at the 11-minute mark before
Brady Holtz and
Tommy Wimmers scored within 22 seconds of each other. Ghys notched the equalizer and go-ahead strike to make it a 7-6 game, both coming off assists from
Elijah Graesser. St. Ambrose snagged the final two points of the half to take an 8-7 advantage into the break.
The first three points of the second half belonged to Augustana, each coming from three different players as Graesser, Moore, and Ghys all found the back of the net. The Vikings endured another scoring run from the Bees and the home team secured an 11-10 lead with just 15 minutes to go.
Graham Shap evened the score four minutes into the fourth, but St. Ambrose went back out by two after a man-down and man-up score. Ghys pulled the Vikings within one with his fifth goal of the contest prior to Holtz tying up the score with a goal at the 3:30 mark. The two teams played scoreless through the remainder of regulation, which included several last-minute defensive stops by Augie to force an extra period. The Bees scored on the final possession of the first and only overtime session to earn the 14-13 victory.
Ghys led all scorers in the game with five goals to lead Augie, while Graesser added a game-high three assists. Defensively, Holtz caused three turnovers and
Nick Morgan stopped 14 shots in net.
Trevor Herman won 13 faceoffs and led all players with 11 ground balls.
With the loss, Augustana drops to 3-8 on the season. The team will return home for Senior Day on Saturday against Carroll.
