ROCK ISLAND, Ill.  – The Cornell women's lacrosse team fought its way to an 8-5 nonconference victory over Augustana College on the road in Wednesday's season opener.

It was a full team effort with five different Rams (1-0 overall) finding the back of the net.

The two teams were evenly matched in the first half of the contest, going into halftime tied 2-2. Augustana (0-1 overall) wasted no time coming out of the locker room, taking back the lead just 19 seconds into the second half.

From there, Cornell gained momentum back and answered with four goals over a six-minute span, securing the lead for the remainder of the game.  

Elizabeth Ott (SR/St. Paul, Minn.) was the leading goal-getter for Cornell with three. Nina Deer (JR/Highland Park, Ill.) tacked on two to go with a team-leading four ground balls. Ellie Nestingen (JR/St. Paul, Minn.), Raquel Gassmann (JR/Santee, Calif.), and Anna Methe (FR/Omaha, Neb.) all tacked on one goal apiece.

Maddie Althoff (JR/Stillwater, Minn.) went the distance in net for Cornell, securing eight saves over the 60 minutes of action.

Coming up – The Rams head to northwest Iowa on Sunday to take on Morningside College. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. in Sioux City.