Contact:
Rachel Balinao, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, rabalinao@noctrl.edu
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Mar. 7, 2026) - Coming out with something to prove, the North Central College women's lacrosse team delivered an offensive explosion in a 17-2 victory over Beloit College on Saturday, securing its first win of the season while remaining undefeated all-time against the Buccaneers. The game featured eight different Cardinal scorers, including three players who recorded hat tricks.
Right out the opening draw,
Mikaela Busse burst out of midfield and sprinted straight to the cage, scoring North Central's first goal less than a minute into the game. Moments later,
Samantha Alis found the back of the net to give the Cardinals a quick 2-0 lead in the opening minutes.
Camille Krekeler added the third goal at the 9:30 mark before
Maddy Gutzmer recorded her first goal of the season with six minutes remaining in the quarter, pushing the lead to 4-0. Beloit managed just one shot attempt in the period, which sailed wide before the horn.
In the second quarter, Krekeler powered through the defense to score her second of the day and extend the lead to 5-0 with 12 minutes left in the half. Beloit responded during a player-up opportunity, converting a free-position shot to get on the board, 5-1. Busse answered after drawing a foul in the critical scoring area and converting a free-position shot of her own for her second goal of the day. Busse then added two more goals in a three-minute span to push the Cardinals' lead to 8-1. North Central allowed just four shots in the first half while firing off 16 of its own.
Beloit opened the second half with two shot attempts, but goalkeeper
Oran Wilkins stopped one to halt the threat. Busse scooped up the ground ball to spark another Cardinal attack before
Anna Williamson threaded a pass through Buccaneer defense to Busse, who scored her fifth and final goal of the day. Alis followed a minute later with her second goal to make it 10-1. Shortly after, Alis won the draw control and fired a shot high on goal. After the attempt went wide, she quickly regained possession and buried the rebound for her first hat trick of the season, giving the Cardinals an 11-1 advantage.
Williamson joined the scoring column herself with a goal at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter, extending the lead to 12-1. A foul against Busse later in the quarter gave Beloit a free-position opportunity, and the Buccaneers converted to close the period.
In the final quarter, North Central cleared the ball out of its defensive end and found Williamson again for her second goal of the day, making it 13-2. Senior,
Anaise Kaufman, added her first goal of the season after taking the ball coast-to-coast during a player-down situation. Two minutes later, freshman
Schyra Archuleta found space in the critical scoring area and scored her first goal as a Cardinal.
Susie Bongiorno and Krekeler capped the scoring with the final two goals of the afternoon to secure the 17-2 victory on home turf.
North Central led 8-1 at halftime and again outscored Beloit 8-1 in the second half. The Cardinals finished with 21 shots on goal while holding the Buccaneers to just three. North Central also controlled possession by winning 13 draw controls and collecting 17 ground balls while going 2-for-2 on free-position shots.
The Cardinals return to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium over spring break, hosting Illinois Institute of Technology on Mar. 10 at 5 p.m.
