WAUKESHA, Wis. - For the second time in the last three years, Carroll's women's lacrosse team has advanced to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship Game. The top-seeded and CCIW regular season champion Pios defeated fourth-seeded North Central (IL) 11-7 Wednesday night to advance to Saturday's championship game.

The opening quarter of Wednesday's semi-final was tightly contested, featuring three ties and two lead changes. Elaina Phaneuf got the scoring started for Carroll, with her 11th goal of the season just two minutes into the contest. North Central tied things up on a Lucy Culig goal less than two minutes later, but Carroll grabbed the lead right back in less than a minute when Elizabeth Wang netted her 52nd goal of the year. Culig would tie the score again with another goal with eight and a half minutes remaining in the period, before Annelise Oster's team-leading 61st goal gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night. That lead lasted two and a half minutes, until Abby Tubbs scored her 32nd goal of the year on an assist from Sierra Skack to tie the game at three. Carroll would end the quarter with a flurry of goals, scoring four times in the final two minutes, with Grace Brockman, Tubbs, Lauren Fricke, and Skack doing the honors.

Culig tried to keep the Cardinals in the game, scoring a third goal in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but the Pios got that goal back when Brockman found the net four minutes later. North Central's Anaise Kaufman added a goal in the final minutes of the half to cut Carroll's lead to 8-5 at the break.

North Central made the game tighter with a goal by Abby Mackenzie to open the second half, but Samantha Hurd found the back of the net a couple minutes later to put Carroll back up by three. The Cardinals continued to fight however, with Oster scoring a couple minutes later to cut the lead to two. Despite North Central trying to slow the pace of the game, Carroll was able to put the contest away with goals from Wang and Brockman in the final quarter.

Carroll out-shot North Central by a 30-14 margin, with 21 of those shots coming on goal. The Pios also forced 25 Cardinal turnovers on the night. Brockman led the Pioneers with three goals, while Wang and Tubbs each scored twice. Wang, who was named CCIW Offensive Player of the Year earlier this week, also registered a game-high three assists, while Skack assisted on two goals. Devon Duym played the entire game at Goal Keeper for the Pios, recording six saves.

North Central was led by Culig's three goals, while Oster added two. Goal Keepers Alyssa Rose and Oran Wilkins combined for 14 saves on the night.

The Pioneers will now host the CCIW Championship Game Saturday at Noon against #2 Carthage. That game will take place at Schneider Stadium in Waukesha, Wis., with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division-III Tournament.