Augustana downs Women’s Lacrosse in penalty filled contest

MEQUON, Wis. – Preseason Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference favorite Augustana College took advantage of a penalty filled second half to earn a 17-6 victory over Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at Fitting Field.

The Falcons hung with the Vikings through the first 30 minutes of play and trailed 7-3 at the break, despite being outshot 20-8. The second half was a completely different game as eight yellow cards were issued, which led to a pair of ejections for the Falcons.

During a four minute and 30 second span there were four yellow cards handed out, including three for the Falcons in less than three minutes. The Vikings took advantage of the whistles and scored three goals against the Falcons short-handed defense during that span.

AC's swarming full-field pressure led to a season-high 29 turnovers for the Falcons. The Vikings also converted 6-of-13 free-position attempts and scored the game's final nine goals.

CUW (4-2, 2-1 MWLC) was led by sophomore Jenna Brown (Roseville, Minn.) who had a career-high-tying two goals, including a free-position tally, while junior Sammi Reiter (Stillwater, Minn.) also scored twice. Junior Hayley Peppers (Franktown, Colo.) and junior Stephanie Barry (Gurnee, Ill.) also found the back of the net.

Defensively, freshman Veronika Metanova (Palatine, Ill.) had a career day with 18 saves, four ground balls and a caused turnover. Peppers picked up a team-high six ground balls.

Kelly Stelzer led the Vikings (6-0, 1-0 MWLC) with five goals and two assists, while Hilary Kargl tallied three markers and had an assist. AC had three other players find the back of the net twice and eight players in all finished with a point. Emily Pavlik had a team-high six ground balls and Shelby Cosman caused a game-best four turnovers.

Following halftime, the Falcons scored three of the next four goals to cut their deficit to 8-6 with 22:56 to play. They couldn't continue the offensive rhythm because of the multitude of whistles.

CUW returns to play on Tuesday against Robert Morris University in a non-conference matchup at 4:30 p.m. at Fitting Field.