WAUKESHA, Wis. - Fast, efficient and powerful.
That was a fitting way to describe the dominant performance of the Carroll University women's lacrosse team as it defeated Beloit College 18-1 in a frigid season-opening nonconference game at Schneider Stadium on Friday night.
Carroll, which won its season opener for the second straight year, outscored the Buccaneers 10-1 in what proved to be a decisive first half - including seven unanswered goals over the course of the opening 18 minutes.
The high-octane 60-minute effort took on added significance as it was the most goals scored by the Pioneers since April 7, 2018 (a 20-10 College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin road victory over Elmhurst).
Sophomore attacker Clara Jelacic (Waukesha, Wis.) finished with a team-high five goals and three assists to lead Carroll, which outshot the Buccaneers 46-2 in the contest - highlighted by a 33-2 shot-on-goal advantage.
"It was a complete-team effort and great way to start the season," said Jelacic, a first-team all-conference selection in the College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin last year who led the team in scoring with 65 goals. "We had a lot of success last year but collectively this was one of our best games yet. Everyone got a lot of touches, six different people scored on our first seven goals and we generated a lot of assists. That ability to move the ball played a big factor tonight.
"Even though it was our first game of the season and we came away with a great victory, there's a lot we can improve on so now we just need to build on the momentum, play with the same energy and keep it going."
Sophomore midfielder Courtenay Karls (Waukesha, Wis.) followed with three goals, four assists, seven ground balls and five forced turnovers - scoring on the Pioneers' opening possession off an assist from Jelacic only 19 seconds into the contest.
"It was definitely a great team win and we had a lot of fun from start to finish," said a smiling Karls, who along with her teammates enjoyed the experience of running through the icy snowbank at the corner of the field and ringing the school's bright orange victory bell for the first time this season. "Throughout the week, we've been working on finishing fast on the first possession in practice so it was great to come out strong, win the draw, get a slow break and execute. It was exactly how we had practiced it and exciting to make the most of the opportunity. Tonight, we clicked right off the bat and took it from there. As the scoreboard showed, we never let up once we built a good lead and continued to play our game. It was an amazing feeling to see everything come together."
Senior midfielder Ariannah Ritter (Sun Prairie, Wis.) - the program's all-time scoring and points leader - contributed a hat trick and an assist for the Pioneers, who forced 17 turnovers. Sophomore midfielder Michaela Johnson (Mukwonago, Wis.), a second-team all-conference selection last year, had two goals, two assists and fielded a team-best eight ground balls..
Senior attacker Amanda Ferr (Franklin, Wis.) and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Scharff (Nashota, Wis.) each added two goals and senior midfielder Katie Majewski (Mundelein, Ill.) had an assist with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Senior defender Delaney Pruitt (Ringwood, Ill.) rounded out the impressive scoring barrage with one goal, freshman attacker Rachel Fordham (Waukesha, Wis.) had three assists and senior midfielder/defender Brittney Wald (Antigo, Wis.) contributed three ground balls with two caused turnovers - in making their respective collegiate lacrosse debuts.
Senior goalkeeper Shelby Schoob (Sun Prairie, Wis.) played the entire 60 minutes to help preserve the victory.
"Tonight, we came ready to play and competed hard for a full 60 minutes," said Carroll head coach Michael Hodge, who guided his squad  to its first-ever CCIW Tournament berth last year. "One of our goals was to come out and control the tempo at the very start  and we accomplished that in a big way. After five weeks of battling one another in practice, it was a great feeling to finally play the first game of the season. We consistently won the draws and possessed the ball over the course of the evening and that became the difference. To start the season off with an effort like this shows that we're hungry and want to earn respect. We realize that there are a lot of tough games coming up on the schedule but for the time being we're just going to enjoy this one. Now we want to keep it going and move forward."
Kieran Rodning scored the lone goal for Beloit, converting on a free-play situation in the first half.