WAUKESHA, Wis. - The journey toward respectability can often be a tough, humbling experience filled with many ups and downs.
The Carroll University women's lacrosse team was reminded of that fact as it lost to high-powered Illinois Institute of Technology 15-0 in a nonconference game at Schneider Stadium on Thursday night.
It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Pioneers, who remained winless at home and dropped to 1-7 overall.
IIT, which won its third straight to improve to 9-1 overall, scored 11 goals in the decisive first half  to pull away.
Sophomore attacker Alyssa DeLuca scored a game-high six goals and sophomore midfielder Madison Meredith had a team-best four assists for the Scarlet Hawks, who outshot Carroll 29-9 - including a 17-2 shot-on-goal advantage in the opening half.
For Carroll head coach Michael Hodge, the process of developing a strong, successful squad has been a gradual one.
"We're still learning about ourselves and what kind of team we really want to be," said Hodge, whose team defeated Northland College 17-14 in its second game of the season. "Looking at our lineup, we have a lot of new, first-year players and have been battling through a few key injuries. From that standpoint, it's been hard to get anything consistent going when forced to play with different lineups every night. We're just battling hard and doing our best to make the most of the situation."
Sophomore midfielder Ariannah Ritter (Sun Prairie, Wis.) generated four shots for Carroll, which was shutout for the first time this season. Sophomore midfielder Katie Majewski (Mundelein, Ill.) had two shots for the Pioneers, who struggled to capitalize on four free-position shots.
Sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Schoob (Sun Prairie, Wis.) registered eight saves.
"On the whole, the score doesn't indicate it but we definitely continue to make progress each time we step on the field," said Hodge, also noting the defensive efforts of Majewski and freshman defender Shay Fulton (Delafield, Wis.). "That's our main objective and it will remain the goal in the weeks to come. 
"We made a few adjustments and managed to limit them to four goals in the second half so it was a step in the right direction. We just have to build from the experience and move on."