LEBANON, Ill. — The Division III No. 5-ranked Vikings of Augustana College went 2-0 on the first day of the Lischwe Memorial Invitational hosted by McKendree University. The Vikings earned 19-5 non-conference defeat of Carthage College before outlasting the University of California-Merced, 12-11, in a four overtime victory.
In the first game against Carthage, the Firebirds scored first before Augustana followed with goals to lead 3-1 after the opening eight minutes. Emma Blezien netted a pair, while Waiahuli Akauput away a shot with 30 seconds remaining in the opening period. In the second quarter, Braelyn Hill and Jorja Neumann connected on opportunities to push ahead 5-1 entering halftime.
In a high-scoring second half, the Firebirds tallied the first successful shot before the Vikings put up four more. Three goals came from Cindy King along with one from Becca Foster in building Augustana’s lead to 9-2. Carthage found the back of the net once more in the third quarter, but Foster and Abigail Gatlin added strikes in the final two minutes of the frame to make the score 11-3.
In the final eight minutes of play, Jersey Merrick and Hill expanded the lead to 13-3. The Firebirds chipped their deficit back under 10, but four markers by Augustana inflated the spread to 17-4 heading into the final two minutes of play. Both teams added to their outputs with Waiahuli securing the final goal of the game in the Vikings’ season-opener.
Foster led the team with four goals to join Waiahuli and King in notching hat-tricks. Merrick tallied four assists, while Hill and Susan Palmentera-Reid grabbed two steals apiece. In the net, Palmentera-Reid had nine saves in 24 minutes of action with Eleni Nicoloudes stopping one shot in eight minutes of action.
In the second game, Augustana opened the first quarter by outscoring the Bobcats via a 3-2 count with Anita Rodgers, Waiahuli and Merrick finishing chances.
In the second quarter, the Bobcats converted on a pair of shots to overtake the Vikings, 4-3. Xiomara Trejo collected her first goal of the day to even the score at four-all with 5:52 left in the first half before both teams put up three goals in the final five minutes of action to deadlock at seven-all entering the halftime break.
Hill tallied the first goal of the third quarter to regain the upper hand, but the Bobcats followed with one of their own. The teams traded shots before Foster notched a marker to push the Vikings ahead at 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter. However, UC-Merced netted the lone score in the final eight minutes of regulation with 3:52 on the clock to tie the game at 10-all and force overtime.
In the first period of overtime, the Vikings received a goal at 1:01 from Hill to push ahead before the Bobcats responded at 2:08 in the second OT frame to retie the game at 11-all.
Following a scoreless first sudden death overtime period, Anais Jones found the back of the net following a pass from Rodgers with 2:02 on the clock to claim a 12-11 victory.
Hill led the team with three goals, while Jones and Waiahuli both chipped in pairs. Hailey Sherman collected three assists, Jones tallied four steals and Palmentera-Reid notched 16 saves.
Information courtesy Augustana College Athletics Communications
