KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carroll University women's lacrosse team played consistently all four quarters and locked down Carthage for a 17-4 victory over the Firebirds in Kenosha.
Clara Jelacic scored a team-high six goals while picking up nine draw controls, and six ground balls.
Rebecca Hallman scored eight points with a team-leading three assists.
The Pioneers (12-2, 4-0 CCIW) outshot the Firebirds 42-14 and held them scoreless until the second quarter.
Alicia Van Dale took the win and didn't have to record a save until the second half, where she picked up two saves in the third and one in the fourth. Carroll's defense forced 28 turnovers, which caused the Firebirds to miss out on five clear attempt opportunities. Carroll only committed 17 turnovers and went 21-26 on clear attempts while picking up 35 ground balls all game.
Jelacic got the Pioneers' offensive moving in the first quarter with the game's opening goal. The Pios would go scoreless for the next six minutes but Hallman scored twice in under a minute to give Carroll a 3-0 lead. After a yellow card,
Samantha Hurd took advantage of a pass from Hallman to score. Jelacic scored right at the buzzer of the first period to make it a 5-0 ballgame. Jelacic and Hallman put the Pioneers up 8-0 with the help of
Katrina Hardin on an assisted goal to Jelacic. Carthage finally broke free for a goal with 4:05 left in the first half, but Jelacic took advantage of another Carthage yellow card and scored a woman-up to give the Pios a 9-1 lead at halftime.
Carroll began the running clock rule in the second half up 12-2 thanks to a free-position goal by
Abby Stas with 9:08 left in the third. Carroll ran the clock down four full minutes before Carthage scored two straight to snap the 10-goal lead. Hardin collected a pass from Jelacic and scored to go up nine goals going into the fourth. Jelacic and Hallman connected early on in the final quarter to score goal number 14 and to restart the running clock. Hallman, Hardin, and
Carley Hall scored in the final quarter to push Carroll's lead to a commanding 13 goal win.
The Pioneers will have a week off before heading down to the University of Chicago to play the top 25 ranked Maroons on Wednesday, April 26.
