WAUKESHA, Wis. - Senior Clara Jelacic contributed a team-high five goals, eight draw controls, five ground balls, two caused turnovers and two assists to lead the Carroll University women's lacrosse team to a 21-4 victory over Edgewood College in a nonconference game at Schneider Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was the home opener for Carroll, which improved to 1-1 overall.
The dominant victory took on added significance as it was the team's first time playing on its home field since March 1, 2020 and established a program record for goals scored in a single half.
The high-powered Pioneers outscored Edgewood 17-1 in the decisive first half, including nine unanswered goals in the opening seven minutes - surpassing the prior mark of 16 first-half goals set in a College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin game at Elmhurst College on April 6, 2019.
"It felt great to be back out on the field again," said Jelacic, a 2019 College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin first-team selection and one of six seniors on the battle-tested roster this season. "We have so many new players and were really just looking to get the ball moving in an attempt to get them as many touches as possible early in the season."
Senior Alyssa Scharff, junior Rachel Fordham and sophomore Katrina Hardin each followed with a hat trick for Carroll, which outshot Edgewood by a 34-9 margin.
"It was a great feeling to be able to come away with a few goals on my birthday," said Hardin, of her memorable day. "This will give me a lot of energy to celebrate the rest of the day with my family and makes it exciting looking ahead to the rest of the season."
Senior Michaela Johnson and freshman Mina Zastrow each had two goals with senior Courtney Karls, senior Courtney Wright and freshman Zoe Esveldt adding one each.
Zastrow's first collegiate goal came off an assist from Scharff at the 21:44 mark of the second half.
Karls collected a team-best three assists, Scharff and Hannah Wenger each had two with Fordham, Hardin, Johnson and Wright each adding one for the Pioneers, who maintained a 27-8 shot-on-goal margin.
Sophomores Rebecca McDaniel and Alicia Van Dale each played a half at goalkeeper, combining for four saves in the effort.
Samantha Velander scored two goals for Edgewood, which was playing its first game in program history. Rachel Unitan and Kendra Sanderfoot each added a goal.
Stay up to date on Carroll women's lacrosse by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics.