Contact: Elliott Carr, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-530
 
Box Score

Albion, Mich. (April. 1, 2017) – An early departure and a three-and-a-half hour bus ride was not enough to slow down the North Central College women's lacrosse team, as their superior speed and stick skills guided them to a 15-7 victory over Albion College on Saturday afternoon, at Alumni Field.

Freshman Christina Truver continued her spectacular play, as she got North Central rolling with 29:17 on the clock, capitalizing on a free-position shot. Junior Emily Zadny was next to score for the Cardinals, as she extended the lead to 2-0 with 27:04 left in the half. Shortly after, with 24:04 remaining in the half, senior Madison Maas found Zadny in scoring position, as she added her second goal of the game.

Albion would eventually strike back with 22:01 remaining in the half, when sophomore Lauren Wiegand scored their opening goal of the contest. However, their inability to contain Zadny resulted in her third goal with 15:37 on the clock, giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. The lead would be extended again soon after, when Maas was the beneficiary of an assist from Truver with 13:18 left to play. The goal was Maas' 98^th of her career, tying her for fifth in all-time career goals for North Central.

Freshman Nelle Scranton ensured the Cardinals were not finished compiling their lead prior to halftime, as she added a goal with 10:11 remaining. Scranton would then play the role of facilitator, setting up Truver for the Cardinals' seventh goal of the game, with 9:18 left in the period.

Senior Nikki Merriss was next the goal scorer for North Central, giving the Cardinals an 8-1 advantage with 8:50 remaining. The final goal scored prior to halftime was scored by senior Kassie Whaling of the Cardinals with 2:54 on the clock, giving North Central a 9-1 lead going into the half.

Albion scored the opening two goals of the second half, but fortunately the Cardinals responded in the form of Zadny's fourth goal of the game with 25:32 left to play. The Britons would score again, but Maas found Whaling in scoring position with 9:33 remaining, while Whaling would go on to score another goal with 6:22 on the clock, giving North Central a comfortable 12-4 advantage.

While Albion responded in the form of a 3-0 run, the Cardinals concluded the game with consecutive goals to Truver, Merriss and Zadny, ensuring the game ended with North Central prevailing 15-7.

Offensively, Zadny led the Cardinals with a career single-game high of five goals, while Truver and Whaling added three apiece. Maas led the team with two assists, while freshman Truver collected a team-high five ground balls, followed by freshman Mynk Richardson-Clerk who finished with four. Richardson-Clerk and Truver were also influential at the draw control, obtaining four and three respectively.

Truver was also highly influential on defense, causing five turnovers, while Richardson-Clerk recorded two caused turnovers of her own. Shultz ended the contest with nine saves.

North Central will look to make it three consecutive victories tomorrow, when they take on Kalamazoo College (0-5) at Mackenzie Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Game time is 12:00 p.m. (ET) and live stats can be found here.