ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's soccer team delivered an offensive surge on Wednesday evening, defeating the Cornell Rams 5-2 at Thorson-Lucken Field. The Vikings scored four goals in the second half to secure the non-conference victory.
Augustana wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Lambis Fostiropoulos found the back of the net in the fourth minute to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead. The goal marked Fostiropoulos' fourth of the season and gave Augustana momentum heading into the remainder of the first half. The Vikings carried their one-goal advantage into the break while continuing to create scoring opportunities.
The Vikings came out aggressively in the second half, extending their lead in the 58th minute when Chris Dingle scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Wes Karubas. Cornell responded with a penalty-kick goal less than a minute later before adding another goal to even the score at 2-2 in the 61st minute.
Augie answered the challenge with three unanswered goals to regain control of the match. Salvador Gil Colmenero put the Vikings back in front in the 66th minute, finishing a pass from Silas Wise to make it 3-2. Wise then added a goal of his own in the 82nd minute off an assist from Jamie K'Otieno, extending the advantage to two. K'Otieno capped the scoring in the 85th minute, finding the back of the net to give Augustana its final 5-2 margin.
Fostiropoulos and K'Otieno led the night with four shot attempts apiece, while Dingle and Toby Dottin contributed three. Goalkeepers Elias Banke and Jahir Anaya combined for six saves in the victory.
With the win, Augie improves to 6-3-4 on the season and 2-2-2 in conference play. The Vikings will be back in action on Oct. 24 to host Carthage.
