WAUKESHA, Wis. - Experienced teams often have the ability to shake off the memory of a stinging loss and bounce back in a big way.
The Carroll University women's lacrosse team showcased that resilience as it defeated Clarke University 22-8 in a nonconference game at Schneider Stadium on Wednesday night.
It was the third home-field victory for Carroll, which has won five of its last six games and improved to 6-2 overall.
The dominant victory took on added significance as it was a season-high goal total and equaled a program record for total goals in a single game - a mark initially established in a 22-3 road victory over University of Dallas on March 30, 2018.
The relentless, confidence-building effort helped to erase the Pioneers' recent 12-8 road loss to Hamline University.
Sophomore midfielder Clara Jelacic (Waukesha, Wis.) scored an individual season-high seven goals, fielded five groundballs, won five draw controls, caused a turnover and converted a free-position shot to lead the Pioneers, who outscored Clarke 14-3 in the decisive first half - including nine unanswered goals over the course of the opening 11 minutes.
"It's always a nice feeling to be able to come back and get a victory on our home field," said Jelacic, who scored five times in the first half and currently leads the team with 27 goals this season. "Knowing we should've probably won our last game, everyone took it hard and really worked hard to push through the situation. After that happened, we took it upon ourselves to make the most of some extra practice time earlier today and it paid off. Coming into the game, there was extra motivation to come out strong and get off to a fast start in the first half. Everything just clicked."
Senior midfielder Ariannah Ritter (Sun Prairie, Wis.) contributed five goals for Carroll,  which outshot the Pride 39-13 - maintaining a 31-10 shot-on-goal advantage.
"We really played fundamentally strong and had a lot of fun out there today," said Ritter, who became the first player in program history to eclipse the prestigious 100-mark for both career goals and points by accomplishing the feat earlier this season. "Hamline was a tough loss but we played well and were able to hang with them each step of the way. Sometimes that happens against good teams so we made the most of the experience, learned from it and did our best to move on. This effort showcased our depth and how everyone on the offensive end has the ability to score when we execute and play up to our potential on each possession.
"Being a senior, I'm just trying to go out there every time and enjoy each moment. It was a lot of fun to come back home, get another victory and ring the victory bell again. Looking back on my career, it's really been amazing to see how far we have come."
Sophomore midfielder Michaela Johnson (Mukwonago, Wis.) followed with four goals and four assists (equaling a single-game program record for assists) for the Pioneers, becoming the third player in program history to reach the 100-point career milestone in the process (joining Jelacic and Ritter in the elite group.)
Freshman attacker Rachel Fordham (Waukesha, Wis.) had two goals for the Pioneers. Senior midfielder Katie Majewski (Mundelein, Ill.), senior defender Delaney Pruitt (Ringwood, Ill.), sophomore midfielder Courtenay Karls (Waukesha, Wis.) and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Scharff (Nashotah, Wis.) each added a goal.
Scharff also collected four assists to equal a single-game program record. Fordham had two assists with Karls, Pruitt and senior defender/midfielder Brittney Wald (Antigo, Wis.) each adding one.
Senior goalkeeper Shelby Schoob (Sun Prairie, Wis.) registered two saves in playing the entire 60 minutes.
Carroll fifth-year head coach Michael Hodge was pleased with the way his team took advantage of the opportunity to play at home and demonstrated its resilience.
"Coming off a difficult loss on the road, we needed this victory to get back on track and  build some momentum heading into the upcoming conference opener," said Hodge, who guided his squad to the CCIW Tournament for the first time in program history last year. "Offensively, we just really tried to get back in a good rhythm and play our style of game from beginning to end. Our mission was to start off fast and furious in the first half, set the tone and play hard the rest of the way. I was very happy with the effort."