NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Concordia University Wisconsin women's lacrosse team defeated North Central College, 13-10, on the road Tuesday night. The victory marked the Falcons' first win over the Cardinals since the 2016 season and snapped North Central's three-game winning streak in the series. NCC still holds the overall series advantage, 6-4. With the win, CUW improves to 2-3 on the season.
 
The opening quarter was tightly contested, with each team scoring twice. Both Falcon goals came from senior Katelyn Cardinale (Mount Laurel, N.J.), including one on a man-up opportunity.
 
The back-and-forth play continued early in the second quarter. Junior Carolyn Bourgeault (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored on a free-position attempt in the opening minutes, before the Cardinals answered about five minutes later. The Falcons quickly responded less than 30 seconds later, sparking a four-goal run to close the half.
 
Bourgeault began the scoring run with an assist from sophomore Carlijn van der Bend (Voorburg, Netherlands). Van der Bend then found the back of the net for her second goal of the season. Cardinale added the third goal of the run before senior Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) capped it off with a man-down goal.
 
CUW carried that momentum into the second half, scoring in the opening minute of the third quarter. Cardinale struck again on another man-up opportunity, and freshman Faith Schmitz (Chilton, Wis.) followed less than two minutes later with her first collegiate goal. Cardinale later added another free-position goal to push the Falcon lead to 10-3, marking her fifth goal of the night and extending her streak of scoring five goals in each of the Falcons' first five games this season.
 
North Central began to mount a comeback late in the third quarter, scoring two unanswered goals before the period ended. The Cardinals added two more goals just over three minutes into the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 11:58 remaining.
 
The Falcons answered quickly, as junior Naomi Black (Ottawa, Ont.) scored a man-up goal just 38 seconds later for her first collegiate goal.
 
North Central continued to push, scoring three more goals to pull within one. However, the Falcons forced a key turnover and regained possession in the offensive zone. Cardinale then added another goal to extend the lead to 12-10. Van der Bend later converted a free-position attempt with 2:17 remaining to seal the 13-10 victory.
 
Cardinale led the Falcons with six goals on nine shots, seven of which were on goal. The senior also led the team in draw controls with eight. Bourgeault added six points with two goals and four assists.
 
Defensively, Black recorded six caused turnovers and tied for the team lead in ground balls with four alongside Spejcher. In goal, junior Parks Cawthray (Oakville, Ont.) made six saves and improves to 2-3 on the season.
 
The Falcons will play their final non-conference game at home on Thursday when they host Carroll at 4 p.m. at Fitting Field.