WAUKESHA, Wis. - Michaela Johnson's tenacious effort took center stage.
Johnson, a sophomore midfielder from Mukwonago, Wis., scored an individual season-high seven goals, attempted 13 shots, fielded seven groundballs, won three draw controls and caused a turnover to lead the Carroll University women's lacrosse team to a statement-making 17-14 victory over in-state rival Carthage College in a physical, hard-fought College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Schneider Stadium on Thursday night.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for Carroll, which improved to 4-0 in the highly contested conference standings and 10-2 overall.
The gritty, hard-nosed effort took on added significance as it was Carroll's first victory over the Lady Red in program history - commemorated by fifth-year head coach Michael Hodge and his jubilant squad ringing the school's bright orange victory bell at the edge of the field.
Carroll, which remains in contention for a conference championship with three league games remaining in the regular season and is seeking its second straight trip to the prestigious CCIW Tournament, is scheduled to host first-place co-leader Illinois Wesleyan, 4-0 in league and 12-2 overall, on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Johnson, who became the third player in program history to record 100 career points earlier this season, scored five goals in the first half.
"It was a 100 percent team effort," said a smiling Johnson, who converted on three free-position shots and currently has 42 goals on the season. "We had been preparing for this game for awhile and it meant a lot to come away with the victory. Five years ago, in the first year of the program, they won 24-0 so it was a great feeling to show how our team is built and what we are made of. Everyone stepped up to the challenge, played cohesively and contributed to an outstanding performance. I love playing with this group and they are like my second family so to accomplish this with them was special.
"It was a really personal game for me tonight. I had been recruited by Carthage before deciding to come to Carroll and wanted to show everyone that the best choice was made. I picked the right coach, the right team and the right school. They were trying to get in our heads and push us around but we just focused, matched their intensity and played our game. Throughout the night, my teammates set me up for success and I did my best to finish on the opportunities (noting the efforts of senior midfielder Katie Majewski (Mundelein, Ill.) on the draws, sophomore midfielder Clara Jelacic (Waukesha, Wis.) on the groundballs and senior defender/midfielder Brittney Wald (Antigo, Wis.) on the forced turnovers).  I just managed to feed off of their effort and get the ball in the back of the net. It was the most meaningful victory of my career."
The spirited Pioneers led 10-8 at the intermission and outscored Carthage by a 7-6 margin over the course of the second half - including two goals within the final four minutes.
Sophomore midfielder Courtenay Karls (Waukesha, Wis.) contributed four goals with an assist, two groundballs, two caused turnovers and was successful on all three of her free-position shots for Carroll, which outshot the Lady Red 32-25 in the contest - maintaining a 22-21 shot-on-goal advantage.
Karls showcased her durability and toughness by quickly recovering after taking the full brunt of a slashing foul to the face and scoring on an aggressive free-play shot to break a 3-3 tie with 18 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the first half.
It proved to be a key turning point in the contest as the Pioneers abruptly followed with three more goals over a critical three-minute stretch.
Clinging to a 15-14 lead late in the game, Carroll responded as Karls converted on a pressure-packed free-position shot with 3:42 left to help put an exclamation point on the victory.
Senior defender/midfielder Delaney Pruitt (Ringwood, Ill.) followed with two goals while Jelacic collected one goal, one assist, four groundballs, five caused turnovers and won five draws.
Senior midfielder Ariannah Ritter (Sun Prairie, Wis.), senior attacker Amanda Ferr (Franklin, Wis.) and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Scharff (Nashotah, Wis.) each added a goal. Scharff also had a team-high three assists.
Wald collected five groundballs and caused five turnovers in support of senior goalkeeper Shelby Schoob (Sun Prairie, Wis.). Majewski had three groundballs, three caused turnovers and won two draws.
"It was a huge victory and we played with so much energy every step of the way," said Wald, of the intense, physical defensive struggle. "Being a fairly young team, we showed a lot of character in the way we maintained our composure and came back each time they scored. Carthage was strong on the draws, kept attacking and went on a few strong runs but never regained the lead. After they scored three straight times toward the end of the game, we just stepped up, made the adjustment and took ownership of the situation.
It was the most intense battle of the season and there were no ticky-tack fouls so it was great to be able to maintain our mental toughness, stay the course and execute when it was close in the final minutes. When we struggled, we were able to shrug it off and move on. I was just really proud of the effort and how we responded to the big-game pressure. We really wanted to get this one for coach Hodge so it was awesome to see it happen. This will give us a lot of momentum moving forward and we're very excited looking ahead to the next challenge. It was a great victory but isn't the end of our story. We plan to play hard in the games to come and write the next chapter." 
Schoob registered seven saves in playing the entire 60 minutes to help preserve a victory for the Pioneers.
"It was the type of tough, physical CCIW game we expected to play at this point of the season," said Hodge, of the emotional, signature victory. "Carthage is a high quality team and a program that we have looked up to since the beginning. We've always strived to be at their level so to be able to come out, play extremely hard and get the victory was outstanding. Coming into the night, both teams knew there was a lot riding on this game and it translated to the intensity on the field. The final five minutes felt like an eternity but that only made it more meaningful when time finally ran out. 
"We have some difficult games coming up but we're going to enjoy this one for the time being and then continue to prepare for the next challenge. I was just very proud of the inspired effort."
The two teams combined to commit 50 fouls, including 31 for Carthage.
Sophomore Jessie Gibson had a team-high six goals, six groundballs, won 10 draws and caused a turnover for the Lady Red, who dropped to 1-3 in conference and 4-8 overall.