Men's Soccer 10/23/02 -- Augsburg 8, Wisconsin-Superior 1 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (10/23/02) -- Mike Elcano (So., Sparks, Nev./Bishop Manogue HS) scored his second collegiate hat trick, with three goals and two assists for an eight-point night, leading Augsburg College to an 8-1 rout of the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a nonconference men's soccer game Wednesday night at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.

Aaron Riedel (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) had a goal and two assists, and Peter Giliardi (So., Burnsvile Minn.) had three assists as the Auggies broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 4-8-2 overall. Wisconsin-Superior dropped to 3-11-1 overall, losing its third game in a row and seventh in their last eight games.

Augsburg outshot UW-Superior by a 38-7 margin, including a 19-2 edge in the first half.

Elcano scored first on a feed from Riedel in the 11th minute, and returned the favor on a cross for a one-touch goal by Riedel at the 26:21 mark. Thirty-five seconds later, Elcano scored again, thanks to a lone one-touch feed from Giliardi. At the 27:34 mark, Joel Stone * (Sr., Fridley, Minn./Spring Lake Park HS) scored on a penalty kick, giving the Auggies a 4-0 lead at halftime.

Augsburg scored four goals in a 15-minute margin early in the second half, with Matt Lachner (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) notching his first goal of the season and 14th of his career at the 50:40 mark, on assists from Elcano and Geoff Johnson (Fr., Blaine, Minn.).

The goal ties Lachner with Eric Roy (1996-99) for the most career goals scored by an Auggie player since 1980 (the first year for accurate records for Auggie men's soccer).

Lachner and Riedel added assists on Elcano's third goal of the game at the 53:04 mark. The assist gives Lachner four on the season and 14 in his career, also the most for an Auggie player since 1980.

Jason Clark (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) scored his first goal of the season on an assist from Giliardi at the 59:26 mark, and Colin Lyons (Fr., Maple Grove, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal at the 65:22 mark, on assists from Clark and Giliardi.

UW-Superior got on the scoreboard at the 67:42 mark, when Bozidar Djuranovic (So., Podgorica, Montenegro) scored his first goal of the season.

Han Zeller (Jr., Winona, Minn.) made three saves to score the win in goal for the Auggies, while Justin Dittmar (Fr., Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead HS) made 14 saves in a losing effort for UW-Superior.

Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (10/26), hosting Gustavus Adolphus College at Edor Nelson Field in the first game of an MIAC doubleheader. The men's teams will play at 1 p.m., followed by the women's game at 3:30 p.m. Wisconsin-Superior finishes its season on Tuesday (10/29) at 3 p.m., playing at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn.