WAUKESHA, Wis. - Clara Jelacic was a force on the field.
Jelacic, a 5-foot-7 freshman midfielder from Waukesha, Wis., demonstrated that by scoring a career-high nine goals to lead the Carroll University women's lacrosse team to a 20-10 victory over Elmhurst College in a cold, windy College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin opener at Schneider Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was the fourth home-field victory of the season for Carroll, which improved its program-best record to 10-0 overall.
The dominant performance took on added significance as it was only the second conference victory in program history and ended an eight-game league losing streak dating back to April 27, 2016.
The Pioneers outscored Elmhurst by a 10-5 margin in the momentum-building first half, highlighted by six unanswered goals over the course of the opening 12 minutes.
Jelacic's impressive individual effort established a team record for goals in a single game, shattering the former record of six held by former standout midfielder/attacker Kailey Leahy (versus Cornell on April 12, 2015) and current junior midfielder Ariannah Ritter (versus University of Dallas on March 16, 2017).
Jelacic scored six times in the first half, including four consecutive goals in the opening 11 minutes to provide a huge spark for Carroll.
"Being the first conference game of the season, there was a lot of extra pressure so it was a perfect moment to step up and show what we were really all about," said a smiling Jelacic, who set the record by finishing with authority off an assist from senior attacker Betty Koenig (Sun Prairie, Wis.) at the 29:27 mark of the second half. "After being picked to finish fifth in the conference at the start of the year, it was exciting to start off with a victory to live up to the expectations. Looking back, it was an awesome experience and great way to honor all of the returning players for their efforts over the last few seasons. It's been a gradual building process and we're continuing to earn respect one game at a time. With the talent and depth of the league, we had a lot of nervous energy throughout the week and just attempted to play hard, execute and push forward.
"One of our goals was to come out strong and get off to a fast start to take control so it was nice to be able to accomplish that. Throughout the day, we consistently won the draws, possessed the ball and dictated the tempo of the game. That's when my teammates followed it up by making some amazing passes (sometimes between two and three sticks) and I just tried to make the most of each opportunity. As that happened, I took control of the ball and put a little something extra on every shot to finish the job. With every game, we continue to improve so this victory will only provide added motivation as we prepare to face some of the top teams in the conference. We're just having a lot of fun and making the most of the situation."
Freshman midfielder Michaela Johnson (Mukwonago, Wis.) followed with four goals and four assists for the Pioneers, who outshot Elmhurst 41-19 - maintaining a 32-14 shot-on-goal advantage.
Ritter (Sun Prairie, Wis.) contributed a hat trick with junior attacker Amanda Ferr (Franklin, Wis.), freshman midfielder Alyssa Scharff (Nashotah, Wis.), freshman midfielder Courtenay Karls (Waukesha, Wis.) and freshman midfielder Tillia Dillon  (Hanover Park, Ill.) each adding a goal.
Karls also contributed four assists while Koenig added three assists for the Pioneers. 
Junior goalkeeper Shelby Schoob (Sun Prairie, Wis.) registered four saves in playing the entire 60 minutes.
"We came in fully aware of the importance of this game and what it would mean to start off the conference season with a victory," said Carroll head coach Michael Hodge, whose team entered the contest ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division III in both caused turnovers per game and ground balls per game. "This will only help in the development of the team and the program as we continue to move forward. Every game is going to be a fight so we just have to play our style of game, control the tempo and execute. Fortunately, we were able to get off to a fast start and then build off of it in the second half. We had to earn it every step of the way but that's to be expected with the depth of the CCIW. 
"Right now, we're enjoying the success but never take anything for granted and continue to maintain a one game at-a-time approach as we move forward. We just want to play our game, have fun and earn respect each time we step on the field. After what seemed like a long Spring Break followed by back-to-back road games, it was great to be back home playing in front of all of the friends, family and fans in the stands today. Now we just want to keep it going."
Senior attacker Grace Knoebel scored four goals for Elmhurst, which dropped to 5-5 overall.