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

Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (May 3, 2013) - The North Central College women's lacrosse team extended a benchmark season one step further Friday afternoon, advancing to the finals of the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) Tournament for the first time with a 7-6 win over Carthage College at Augustana College's Thorson-Lucken Field.

The Cardinals (12-4) trailed by as many as three goals before dominating the bulk of the second half and securing their second one-goal win over Carthage in eight days. North Central secured its first MWLC Tournament win in its third appearance in the event.

North Central held the Lady Reds scoreless for the first 15 minutes of play, getting goals from Bianca Perri and Danielle Fiala to take the early lead. Carthage (11-7) threatened to end the game early with a 5-0 scoring surge over a 13-minute stretch and took a 5-2 lead late in the opening period.

The Cardinals, however, scored twice in the final 43 seconds to narrow the gap to a single goal by halftime. Gina Fisher scored both goals, converting a free-position attempt before scoring with just three seconds off the clock after Jamie Legner forced a turnover and cleared the ball out of North Central's end of the field.

The two teams battled for possession throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, though the Cardinals never permitted Carthage to shoot the ball. North Central scored the game-tying goal with 19:11 to play when Fisher scored off a pass from Fiala. After limiting the Lady Reds to just one shot over the next 10 minutes, North Central scored the go-ahead goal with 8:58 left. Perri forced a Carthage turnover and Fisher fed Claire Norfleet for the score.

The Lady Reds won the ensuing draw, but Rachael Houp forced a turnover and cleared the ball before Fiala scored on a free-position shot to extend the lead to two goals. Carthage's Lauren Chatham scored her MWLC-leading 63rd goal with 5:18 to play, cutting the deficit to a single goal, but the Lady Reds managed just one shot on goal the rest of the way as North Central held on for the victory.

In addition to a team-high three goals, Fisher also tied a Cardinal single-game record with six caused turnovers. 

The Cardinals will take on the winner of Friday's semifinal between No. 1 seed Augustana and No. 4 seed Concordia University Wisconsin in Saturday's final, beginning at 7 p.m., with the winner to receive the MWLC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship. Live video and in-game statistics can be accessed at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=wlax.