ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – University of Northwestern Men's Lacrosse traveled to Augustana College in Illinois for their season opener on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles fell behind early before rallying to take the lead in the third quarter, but eventually fell 10-7 to the Vikings.
 
Augustana scored the first goal of the game in the fourth minute, but Thomas Alderson (Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead) evened the score with a man-up goal for the Eagles three minutes later; scoring the first UNW goal of the season. The Vikings would score again before the close of the opening period to go up 2-1.
 
After a low-scoring opening quarter, the offensive output exploded for seven goals in the second. Augustana doubled their lead in the opening minute with another goal to go up 3-1. Sam Moses (Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) then cut the Eagles' deficit back down to one with a goal for UNW. The Vikings then scored back-to-back goals to take a 5-2 lead.
 
Trailing by three with 5:39 to go in the second quarter, the Eagles' offense caught fire to tie the game before halftime. Alderson scored his second goal of the game just 15 seconds following the previous Vikings goal. Austin Lemke (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Saint Croix Lutheran Academy) followed two minutes later with another UNW goal to bring the Eagles within one. Then, with 12 seconds on the clock, Moses scored his second goal of the game to send the Eagles to halftime tied 5-5 with the Vikings.
 
After halftime, Northwestern kept up their momentum as Moses capitalized on a man-up opportunity to score his third goal of the game just 40 seconds into the third quarter to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead. UNW's run of four consecutive goals gave them a lead they held for almost the entire third quarter until the Vikings tied the game with 1:29 remaining in the period. Augustana would then score another 36 seconds later to retake the lead 7-6.
 
The Eagles tied the game up once more in the fourth quarter as Lucas Peters (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East) scored with 9:19 to go. The Vikings then scored thrice more down the stretch to take the game 10-7.
 
Moses led UNW's offensive attack with his hat trick and finished tied for the team lead in ground balls with three. Peyton La Mere (Holmen, Wis./Holmen) and Richard Hemric III (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) led the Eagles' defense with two caused turnovers each.
 
Up next, Northwestern travels to Kalamazoo, Michigan to take on the Kalamazoo College Hornets on Saturday, March 4 at 3:00pm (2:00pm central) at MacKenzie Field.