FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
ADRIAN, Mich. (Apr. 28, 2012) - Falling victim to a first-half scoring run for the second consecuive outing, the North Central College women's lacrosse team closed the regular season on Saturday with a 18-10 loss to Adrian College at Performance Stadium.
The Cardinals fell behind, 9-1, midway through the first period and staged a strong comeback effort, narrowing the gap to 12-8 early in the second half before the Bulldogs (15-2, 7-0 Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference) scored four unanswered goals in a 13-minute stretch to clinch their second straight MWLC regular-season championship.
North Central's Caroline Gully picked up the game's first goal with 26:42 on the first-half clock, but Adrian followed with nine goals over the next 14 minutes of play and held the Cardinals scoreless until Gully found the net again with 11:39 remaining in the half.
Danielle Fiala scored just before the buzzer sounded for halftime to send the visitors into the break with a 11-4 deficit. Gully scored the first goal of the second period as well, and Fiala and Adelaide Dieckmeyer each scored on free-position attempts before Fiala connected again on a pass from Jacqui Morgan with 19:19 remaining to narrow the gap to 12-8.
Following a timeout and a substition at goalkeeper, Adrian went on a 4-0 run and kept the Cardinals out of the net until Fiala scored her fourth goal with 4:24 to play.
Fiala added a fifth goal before time ran out, giving her 51 for the season. She is the first player in the history of the Cardinals' program to score at least 50 goals in a single season. She also collected six ground balls and five draw controls.
North Central's game at Albion College, initially scheduled for Sunday, has been forfeited to the Cardinals, giving them an overall record of 7-9 and a MWLC mark of 5-2 to close the regular season. Pairings and start times for next weekend's MWLC Tournament will be released as soon as they are available.
