ROCK ISLAND, ILL.—The Augustana College Vikings awaited the Carthage College men's lacrosse team in the 2016 regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Red Men entered the contest with at least a share of the 2016 Regular Season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Men's Lacrosse crown.
 
A victory over the Vikings would have secured the Red Men an outright 2016 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Championship. Carthage found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the opening five minutes of the contest before they got their feet from underneath them. Those quick goals proved to be too much for the Red Men to overcome in a 10-7 loss to Augustana College.
 
Carthage closes the regular season with an 8-9, 4-1 CCIW mark while Augustana crosses the finish line with an 11-6, 4-1 CCIW record. This result puts Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana in three-way tie for first place in the CCIW standings.
 
Carthage takes the #1 seed in the CCIW Tournament by way of the goal differential tie-breaker. The Red Men's +11 goal-differential in CCIW games beats out Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana.
 
Carthage 10, Augustana 7
 
A slashing penalty called on Carthage at the 14:41 mark of the first quarter provided Augustana momentum. Alexander Crescenti capitalized on that momentum with a man-up goal for the Vikings with 14:09 left in the first quarter to make the score 1-0.
 
That spark plug carried over into the next minute and change as the Vikings tallied two more goals en route to a 3-0 lead at the 13:03 mark of the opening frame. This provoked Red Men head lacrosse coach David Neff to burn a timeout.
 
The deep breath paved the way for back-to-back Red Men goals. Luke Seydel and Billy Lane each tallied a goal to cut the Viking's lead to 3-2 at the 5:10 mark of the first quarter.
 
The Vikings and Red Men each traded a goal to make the score 4-3 after the first quarter.
 
The Red Men rebounded from a turnover, and failed clear attempt early in the second quarter when Jared Ferrell tallied his 27^th goal of the season with 8:43 left in the second quarter to tie the game 4-4.
 
The Vikings signaled a timeout with 0:07 on the clock after a string of shots failed to result in a goal for them. The Red Men cleared the field and took a 5-4 lead with 0:01 on the clock when Seydel tallied a goal.
 
The ball was back in the Viking's court in the third quarter, and it stayed that way after they responded with two goals en route to a 6-5 lead with 4:43 left. Andy Szun tied the game 6-6 with a goal at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter, but couldn't pass that threshold for the rest of the game. 
 
The Vikings answered with three goals to take a 9-6 lead with 3:50 remaining in the game. That three-goal deficit was too much to overcome in a 10-7 loss to Augustana College.
 
Seydel and Ferrell each notched two goals for the Red Men. Shots were even at 31-31 in the game while Augustana committed 19 turnovers compared to Carthage's 16.

Ryan Smith tallied 11 saves in net for the Red Men. 
 
The Red Men earned a share of the 2016 CCIW Men's Lacrosse Championship with Augustana College and Illinois Wesleyan University. The #1 seed Red Men will host #4 Elmhurst College in the CCIW Semifinals at Art Keller Field on Wednesday, May 4. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.