Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Results

WAUKESHA, Wis. (Apr. 27, 2024) – The North Central College women's lacrosse team was outpaced early by the Carroll University Pioneers 18-5, in their final regular season matchup.

The Pioneers (13-3, 3-2 CCIW) were the first to score as Lauren Fricke found room 76 seconds in. Carroll continued to put pressure on North Central's (7-6, 2-3 CCIW) defense finding space twice in the next five minutes with Fricke and Elizabeth Wang each scoring for a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals rallied back two goals between Rachel Lawrence and Abby MacKenzie with assistance from Reese McMullen to put them within one. With just over seven minutes left in the first period, both defenses began to settle in until Rebecca Hallman broke through to put the Pioneers back up 4-2. It wasn't until the final minute of the period Carroll's Samantha Hurd snuck a shot past Cassidy Anderson to seal the period at 5-2.

Entering the second period, the Pioneers continued their offensive pace as just under two minutes in Hallman began an unanswered eight-goal run. Another two minutes later Wang found room on a free position shot to force Carroll up 7-2. With eight minutes to go, Elaina Phaneuf, Fricke, and Hallman would all score within a minute and a half of each other. With the score at 10-2, the Cardinals were not allowed a second to breath as the final five minutes saw Wang and Hallman score three times between them to end the period at 13-2.
The Cardinals finally found room again with 10:50 left as Annelise Oster fired a free position shot to cut the lead to 10. Both defenses held off the scoring for the next five minutes until Hallman broke through to put Carroll ahead by 11 once again. MacKenzie was awarded a free position attempt with 75 seconds left, firing a goal past Devon Duym.

With Carroll set firmly at a 14-4 lead, they looked to continue the pressure as Wang found room within 40 seconds to etch the Pioneers back to an 11-goal lead. Hallman followed suit three minutes later, pushing the score to 16-4. With 8:10 left in regulation, McMullen found room for the final Cardinal goal of the match as Hallman followed with two more goals to end the match at 18-5.

In total, MacKenzie led the offense with two goals while McMullen followed with one goal and one assist. On the defensive end, Anaise Kaufman and Taylor Smith led with three caused turnovers and two groundballs each. Anderson guarded the goal for all 60 minutes fending off six scoring attempts.

The Cardinals finish the season with an overall record of 7-7 while 2-4 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play.

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