Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (April 3, 2025) – After leading into halftime, the North Central College women's lacrosse team found themselves overcome by a determined effort from the Calvin University Knights, falling 20-13 in their third loss of the season.

Calvin (7-3) was the first to score as Jacey Smith broke through under a minute in for an early lead. North Central (6-3) quickly retaliated when Rachel Lawrence notched her first score of the match with help from Anaise Kaufman, equalizing the score over 60 seconds later. The Knights fired back with Smith's second goal of the game off the following draw control win from Meghan Chang 15 seconds later. Over the final nine minutes, Calvin fired ahead on a 2-1 run with Annelise Oster's lone goal keeping the Cardinals within two scores into the second period.

North Central flipped the script to start the period as Abby MacKenzie was awarded a free position attempt under two minutes in knocking a goal past Hannah Rizzo in goal. With the Knights leading 4-3, they shot back ahead, scoring two back-to-back goals just over a minute of each other with ten minutes to go for a three-goal lead. Lawrence, MacKenzie, and Oster answered the call for North Central with three goals over the next five minutes, two of which were near back-to-back free-position goals to bring the score up to 6-6. With a minute left, Oster fired off her third goal of the match to put the Cardinals ahead before halftime.

Entering the third period, Calvin found room to jump ahead by one in the first two minutes with two scores from Smith and Audrey Booher. Oster would fire off her fourth goal of the game in the 9th minute, but was overshadowed by a two-goal run by the Knights over the following four minutes. With the score at 10-8, Oster again found room with four minutes to go to bring the Cardinals back within one. Calvin then went on a three-goal run to end the period at 13-9.

The final period saw the Knights pull away with a 5-2 run in the first six minutes with Oster's and MacKenzie's goals unable to keep pace. With the score now at 18-11, Lawrence scored her third goal of the match with eight minutes to go. As the Calvin defense continued to keep North Central off balance, Meghan Chang for the Knights scored a goal with just under seven minutes left. MacKenzie would win the following draw control and score in a lightning-fast 13 seconds, but again Chang would score in the final 30 seconds to seal the scoring up at 20-13.

Offensively, Oster led the way with six goals, with MacKenzie following behind with four but successfully going three for three in free position shots and causing two turnovers. Samantha Alis caused the most turnovers with three while securing two groundballs. Alyssa Rose secured the net through all 60 minutes, fending off eleven scores.

The Cardinals return home Saturday to host their annual celebration of the senior class, facing Anderson University. Access the full schedule HERE.

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