For the second year in a row, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's soccer team won their annual battle with Augustana College to retain the Viking-Warhawk Cup. Five first half goals propelled the Warhawks to a 5-1 victory over the Vikings Friday night at Fiskum Field in Whitewater. The Warhawks, ranked fifth in the nation and coming off of their first loss of the season, improve to 9-1 while the visiting Vikings fall to 3-5-1.

Sam Novak (Milton, Wis./Milton) took a throw-in in the fourth minute of play and tossed it towards the goal where it deflected off of a Viking defender and into the net for a 1-0 Warhawk lead.

Play was quiet in both directions for the next twenty minutes.

Alex Whiteman (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) subbed into the game in the 23rd minute and made his presence known just a short while later. Whiteman took a pass from Dylan Hottsmith(DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and buried it in the back of the net to give the Warhawks a 2-0 lead at 27:09. Four and a half minutes later Whiteman scored his fifth goal of the season on a double-assist by Kyle Clancy (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Sam Novak (Milton, Wis./Milton) to give the Warhawks a 3-0 advantage.

Moments later Taylor Ortiz (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) added a goal on a pass from Jordan Wilkins (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) to make it 4-0.

In a rare occurrence, just as the half was winding down, the Warhawks sent a ball toward the Viking net, and a defender knocked it in for the second "own goal" of the game and a 5-0 Warhawk lead at halftime.

Augustana managed to tally a score in the 57th minute to make it 5-1, but that's how the game would end.

Twenty-seven players saw playing time for Head Coach Tony Guinn, including two goalkeepers,Alex Buchman (Waterford, Wis./Waterford) and Chris Lucatorto (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East). The two split the game in half; Buchman did not need to make a save while Lucatorto made two.

Whitewater outshot the Vikings 18-10 in the match, including 12-3 in the first half.

This was the third game in four days for UW-Whitewater. "I don't think anyone in the country demands more from their athletes than we do when it comes to scheduling" Coach Guinn remarked after the match. The Warhawks will see their four-game homestand come to an end on Monday when they host Lake Forest at 7:30 pm.

The Warhawks will enjoy a rare day off on Saturday when they head to the third annual Avie-Fest, a celebration of community and life in memory of Avielle Richman. Members of the team will participate in a rib-eating contest at 2:26 pm in honor of the 26 victims from the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting where Avielle lost her life. Coach Guinn stated after the game, "This is a good opportunity for our athletes to be a part of something bigger than just soccer."

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