Huntingdon lacrosse comes up short against Augustana

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's lacrosse team scored first on Saturday, but Augustana College had an answer. The Vikings scored five goals in the first half and six in the second half to take an 11-2 victory.

Augustana (2-0) only scored once in the first period, but the Vikings took a 5-1 lead into the half and built a 7-1 lead in the first four minutes of the second half. Like Huntingdon (1-2), this is Augustana's first season of NCAA competition. Unlike Huntingdon, the Vikings previously fielded a club team and have a little more experience.

"Augustana had a little more depth and a few more players with experience," Huntingdon head coach Andrew Carey said. "We're still learning and gaining experience. But we're learning at full speed. Our guys played hard from the first whistle to the last whistle today."

Brandon Sewell and Gavin Carey scored the Hawks' two goals. Sewell also had 10 ground balls and was 13-for-16 on faceoffs. Ryan Rees had five ground balls. Goalie Spencer Nix recorded 14 saves.

Colin Haley led Augustana with four goals and Tim Fennelly added two goals. Goalie Cody Burgdorff made 12 saves.

Despite the loss, coach Carey said he saw several encouraging performances. He liked Nix's performance in goal, was impressed with Sewell's improvement on faceoffs and praised Steven Gernatt for his defensive performance.

"Spencer played a great game and I'm proud of the way Brandon has worked and stepped up on faceoffs," Carey said. "Steven did an outstanding job on one of their best players. Jesse Nagelberg scored six goals in their first game and Steven held him to one goal today.

"We still have a lot to work on, but there were positives in today's game."

The Hawks return to action on Friday, hosting Alma College at 2 p.m.