BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings women's lacrosse team sealed a 15-8 victory over the Illinois Wesleyan Titans on Wednesday to claim sole possession of third place in the conference standings.
The Vikings struck almost immediately, with
Em Dornbusch finding the back of the net just 10 seconds into play to take the early lead. One minute later, Augie collected three straight goals to extend the lead to 4-0. The Titans found their first goal at 10:32, but
Becca Lacina answered to keep the momentum.
Colleen Chiavola maintained the scoring run with a solo goal before Dornbusch grabbed his second goal of the night. Illinois Wesleyan closed the first quarter with a goal at 5:11, but Augie held the 7-2 upper hand.
In the second, the Titans won the draw control, but
Kritika Chitnis quickly took over possession and found Lacina for another goal. After five scoreless minutes, the Titans tallied two successful shots to cut the difference to 8-4. Both teams traded goals in the final five minutes, with
Madison Langewisch credited for the Vikings. Augie held the 9-5 lead entering the hafltime break.
Returning to action, both teams showed a strong defensive side until 8:16 when
Leah Greiber scored off a pass from
Anna Davison. In a woman-up situation, Chiavola shot past the goalie from Lacina to make an 11-5 game. With under two minutes remaining, Dornbush fired a successful shot in a woman-down position. The Titans closed the third with a free-position goal, bringing the score to 12-6 heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, Langewisch and Chiavola grabbed back-to-back goals to stretch the lead 14-6. The teams traded goals with, Langewisch finding the back of the net in a woman-up play, assisted by Lacina. Illinois Welseyan earned the final goal, but the Vikings sealed the 15-8 win.
Five Vikings scored in the win, with Chiavola leading with five goals and three caused turnovers. Langewisch followed with four goals, one assist, three caused turnovers, and won seven draw controls. In the goal,
Eva Karjalahti saved 12 attempts in their 60 minutes in goal.
With the win, Augie improves to 9-6 on the season and 2-2 in conference action. The Vikings will be back in action on April 25 for the final home game of the season.
