Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Augustana women's lacrosse program punched a ticket to the NCAA Division III round of 16 for the third year in a row Sunday, defeating Concordia 19-13 at Thorson-Lucken Field. Coach Meredith Newman's Vikings move on to face second-ranked SUNY Cortland with a record of 19-1. The Falcons, undefeated champions of the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference, finish the season at 13-7.
 
Senior Emily Pavlik (Lyons HS, La Grange, Ill.) and Concordia's Hayley Peppers traded goals in the first five minutes. Junior Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) found the net on a free position shot with 22:36 left in the first half, starting a string of four straight Augustana goals as the Vikings took a 5-1 lead midway through the period.
 
The teams swapped the next five goals before senior Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) scored off a Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) assist and Kargl added the final two goals of the half to give Augustana a 10-4 lead. The final goal of the period came with the Vikings a player up, their third such goal of the game.
 
Stelzer and sophomore Anne Hopkins (Mother McAuley HS, Chicago, Ill.) tallied the first two scores of the second half, before the Falcons responded with four of the next five goals to draw within 13-8. However, Hopkins added three goals in a 5-0 Augustana run that put the game out of reach.
 
Concordia scored five of the final six goals, including two by Hannah Redden. Hopkins' sixth of the contest at 2:21 rounded out the hosts' total.
 
In addition to Hopkins' half dozen, Kargl scored four goals and added a game-high three assists. Stelzer scored three times and Handrahan twice. Sophomore Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) had a pair of assists and a game-high four draw controls. Junior Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HS, Littleton, Colo.) recorded 10 saves in goal and snared a team-high five ground balls. Juniors Kendall Maduro (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) and Kaylee Nolan (Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) each had a pair of caused turnovers.
 
The Vikings outshot the visitors 36-26 and had a 23-18 advantage in ground balls. Augustana committed 19 turnovers to the Falcons' 23 and were called for a whopping 37 fouls to 21 for Concordia.
 
On Saturday, May 16, Newman's crew will face the Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland, the nation's second-ranked team. Cortland is 18-1 with its lone loss coming to defending national champion Salisbury, the team that eliminated Augustana from last year's NCAA Tournament.