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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Apr. 25, 2013 - The only lead the North Central College women's lacrosse team held Thursday evening was the one that mattered most, as the Cardinals emerged late to force overtime against Carthage College before securing a 10-9 victory in Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference play at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

North Central (9-4, 6-1 MWLC) trailed for most of the game before scoring four of the final five goals in regulation, tying the game with just 12 seconds on the clock. The Cardinals then scored the only goal of the six-minute extra session to improve to 5-0 in home games and 2-0 in overtime contests this season.

Carthage dominated play early, scoring three goals in the first four minutes to seize control in the first half. Danielle Fiala got the Cardinals on the board with two goals and Gina Fisher added a third to narrow the deficit to 4-3, but the Lady Reds' Lauren Chatham tallied her third goal of the first half with 3:26 to play and Carthage entered the halftime break with a two-goal lead.

North Central's Leea LoPresti netted the first goal of the second half, but the Lady Reds (10-6, 5-2) responded quickly with two of their own to extend their lead to 7-4. Carthage owned an 8-5 lead when the Cardinals made their move to get back into contention. Rachael Houp sprinted the length of the field to score with 18:43 on the clock, and LoPresti scored after forcing a turnover to leave the score at 8-7 with 11:22 left.

Claire Norfleet tied the score for the first time with 9:43 to go, finding the net off a pass from Fiala, but Carthage's Olivia Nino converted a free-position with 8:40 left to nudge the visitors in front once again. 

With one minute remaining, Carthage goalkeeper Ali Gorman saved a shot by Fiala, but Bianca Perri wound up forcing a turnover to foil the Lady Reds' attempt to clear the ball. Gorman stopped two more shots from close range before Fisher found Ali Kluck for the game-tying score with just 12.2 seconds to play. Kluck's goal, her second of the season, forced the first overtime in a home game in the North Central program's five-year history.

North Central's Rebecca James controlled the draw to start overtime, and the Cardinals controlled possession for nearly three minutes before Fiala scored to give the hosts their first lead of the night. Norfleet controlled the following draw as well, and the Cardinals ran the clock down under a minute before Carthage forced a turnover and cleared the ball.

With 28 seconds on the clock, Carthage's Lauren Chatham, the MWLC Offensive Player of the Year, was awarded a free-position attempt, but North Central goalkeeper Sarah Hon stonewalled the point-blank shot to preseve the victory.

Fiala and LoPresti both finished with three goals to lead North Central in scoring, and Fiala's two assists give her a school-record 14 for the season. The pair also tied for the team lead with three caused turnovers, while LoPresti added a team-high five ground balls as well. Norfleet collected three draw controls and Hon finished with nine saves.

Chatham and Sydney Whitaker paced Carthage with three goals each. Chatham also had five draw controls and Nino grabbed eight ground balls.

The Cardinals host Loras College (1-12) in non-conference play on Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. Live video and in-game statistics can be accessed at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=wlax.