USAF ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Augustana Vikings men's water polo team dropped the first game of the Rare Air Invite on Saturday, falling to the Cal State Fullerton Titans by a final score of 15-7. In game two, Augie rallied hard, but fell to the Whittier Poets 15-13. 

The Titans scored the first two goals in the first period to gain the early advantage. Mark Addison found the back of the net with 5:15 remaining in the period to create a 2-1 score. Cal State Fullerton closed out the first with a successful shot to lead 3-1 after eight minutes of play. In a high-scoring second period, the Titans outscored Augie 6-2 to stretch the gap to 9-3. Goals from the Vikings came from Oskar Bannister and Rhys Lomax.

In the third period, Cal State Fullerton collected a shot at 5:29 before James Davis notched a goal of his own three minutes later. The Titans scored once more in the third to create an 11-4 score heading into the final eight minutes of play. Cal State Fullerton scored the first two goals in the final period before Ian Palmroos secured a successful penalty goal. Two minutes later, the Titans tallied another, but Addison and Lomax followed with two goals within 40 seconds of each other to move the score to 14-7. Cal State Fullerton secured the final goal of the game to take the matchup by a score of 15–7.

Five different Vikings scored in the loss, with Addison and Lomax leading with two apiece. Declan Hutton saved six shots, while Lawson Soukup stopped five attempts in their 16 minutes in goal.

In a high-scoring game two, both teams went back-and-forth with goals in the first period before Augie collected three consecutive points to take the 4-2 lead. The Poets notched another, but a successful shot from Cole Faux with seven seconds on the clock moved the game to 5-3 after eight minutes of play. The Vikings tallied another in the second off a shot from James Davis to stretch the gap to three. Whittier notched three goals within one minute of each other to tie the game at six apiece. Bannister found the back of the net shortly after to regain the lead, and Stevan Rasic followed with another goal two minutes later to move the difference back to two. With five seconds remaining, the Poets scored to get within one, but Augie led 9-8. 

In the third, Trentin Lechleitner scored the first goal, but Whittier followed with four of their own to snatch the lead with a score of 12-10. Each team found the back of the net with one minute remaining before Faux grabbed back-to-back goals in the final 50 seconds to even the score at 13-13. In a low-scoring final period, Mason Landes moved the upper hand back in the Vikings' favor with a successful shot at 5:01, but the Poets secured the final two goals to take the game 15-13. 

Eight different Vikings scored in the second game, with Faux leading with three, while Tyler Leslie and Palmroos notched two goals apiece. Hutton stopped 13 shot attempts in his 32 minutes in the net. 

With the two losses, Augie starts the season 0-2 and will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the Air Force Rare Air Invite for a game against the Air Force.