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

Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Apr. 22, 2014) - Despite being in a position to make a second-half run at the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) leaders, the North Central College women's lacrosse team was turned away Tuesday at Augustana College, as the unbeaten Vikings gained just enough breathing room and posted a 14-9 win over the Cardinals at Thorson-Lucken Field.

Augustana (13-0, 7-0 MWLC) owned a 6-2 advantage in second-half scoring after heading into halftime owning just an 8-7 lead. The Vikings are two games ahead of the pack in the MWLC standings with three regular-season games to play.

The score stood tied at 3-3 after seven minutes of play before the hosts strung together three straight goals to pull ahead, 6-3. Leea LoPresti's free-position goal with 13:48 on the clock temporarily halted Augustana's rally, but the Vikings added two more scores to take an 8-4 lead with 6:56 before the break. The Cardinals got goals from Claire Norfleet and Gina Fisher to get back into contention and prompt an Augustana timeout before Jordyn McFarlane scored just before time expired to narrow the lead to 8-7 at the intermission.

The first second-half goal did not come until nearly seven minutes had elapsed, but Augustana was able to string together two in short order to extend its lead. The Vikings led, 11-7, before Anna Bartels scored North Central's first goal of the period, and the Cardinals were kept out of the net from then until Fisher scored the game's final goal with 3:49 to play.

Fisher, Norfleet and McFarlane led the Cardinals (6-5, 5-2 MWLC) in scoring, while Fisher also collected four draw controls and Jamie Legner led the team with a career-high six ground balls and goalkeeper Sandy Stasaitis saved 14 shots on goal, one short of the North Central single-game record.

Kendall Maduro and Olivia Mayer paced Augustana with three goals apiece.

North Central hosts MWLC rival Loras College (3-13, 2-5) on Thursday at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Play is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., with Senior Night festivities to be conducted prior to game time. Links to live video coverage and in-game statistics can be accessed by clicking HERE.