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

Dubuque, Iowa. (April. 26, 2017) – With a spot in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament essentially on the line, the North Central College women's lacrosse team stood tall when the stakes were highest, as they defeated the University of Dubuque 20-9 on Wednesday night, at Oyen Field.

North Central wasted little time establishing an advantage, with freshman Jessica Deetjen obtaining the initial draw control and going on to score the opening goal of the game just 12 seconds into the contest.

Just over one minute later, with 28:06 on the clock, junior Emily Zadny added to the Cardinals' lead, while the freshman duo of Christina Truver and Mynk Richardson-Clerk connected to give North Central a 3-0 advantage, as Richardson-Clerk found Truver in scoring position with 26:17 left in the half.

While the Spartans scored their first goal with 23:02 on the clock, the Cardinals responded with a goal from senior Madison Maas with 22:19 remaining, then Deetjen's second goal with 21:30 left in the half, as she was on the receiving end of an assist from Truver.

Shortly after, Zadny continued North Central's dominance as she scored her second goal, giving the Cardinals a 6-1 lead with 18:15 on the clock. Senior Nikki Merriss added to this already sizeable lead with 16:21 on the clock, with her first goal of the game.

Zadny's dominance continued as she added a third goal with 16:11 remaining in the half, as Maas obtained the draw control and found Zadny in scoring position, which gave North Central an 8-1 lead.

Dubuque struck back with 14:03 remaining, but the Cardinals were not willing to give an inch, as Truver was next to score, with 1:52 remaining. While Dubuque answered with another goal, Zadny's haul grew to four with 7:07 left in the half when junior Jordyn McFarlane found her in scoring position, ensuring the Cardinals' lead remained sizeable at 10-3.

Deetjen went on to score North Central's final goal of the half, capitalizing on a free-position shot with 2:00 remaining, which saw North Central led 11-3 at the half.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Zadny played the role of facilitator, finding McFarlane fo the Cardinals' opening goal of the half. Following a Spartan goal, Richardon-Clerk scored her first goal of the game with 25:43 on the clock, followed by back-to-back goals from senior Kassie Whaling at 24:23 and 23:11, the first coming courtesy of a Truver assist.

The Spartans proceeded to go on a 3-0 run, but that was broken by Deetjen's fourth goal of the contest, with 7:37 left to play. Barely 30 seconds later, Maas added another goal for the Cardinals, followed by another from Dubuque.

North Central ended the game with a flurry of goals, the first coming from freshman Nelle Scranton with 2:37 on the clock, followed by consecutive goals from Maas to close out the contest.

Offensively, Zadny, Maas and Deetjen led the way for the Cardinals as they each contributed four goals. Truver had a team-high three assists, while also leading the team in draw controls, with five. Freshman Rebecca Claussen was the leader in ground balls, obtaining four.

The leader in caused turnovers for North Central was senior Anicia Mattingly, finishing with three, while senior goalkeeper Kat Schultz had six saves.

The Cardinals final home game of the season, which is also senior day, will occur on Saturday April 29 at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium Game time is 1:00 p.m. and video and live stats can be found here.