BLOOMINGTON, Ill. –Carthage College women's lacrosse bounced from a loss over the weekend to win their final road game of the 2016 regular season, defeating Illinois Wesleyan University 9-7 Wednesday at Tucci Stadium.
 
With the win, Carthage improves to 9-4 on the season and 3-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while Illinois Wesleyan falls into a tie for the fourth and final tournament spot at 1-2 in conference and 11-3 overall.  Both the Lady Reds and Titans have two regular season games remaining after tonight's match.
 
Carthage opened the match building what looked to be a convincing 5-1 lead behind first half goals that included goal scorers Elizabeth Wittenborg and Rachel Mussell each with one, and a first half hat-trick from Kara Vana.
 
Despite being outshot in the half, 14-10, the Lady Reds were able to show more consistency, putting eight of their shots on target to just seven for the Titans.
 
After closing the half on a 4-0 run, the Lady Reds continued to build their lead courtesy of Kendell Santin's first goal of the match and Vana's fourth, to put the Lady Reds ahead 7-1.
 
However the Lady Reds would not go away without a fight.  A 4-1 run by Illinois Wesleyan cut the Carthage lead to 8-5 with just over ten minutes remaining in regulation.  Santin's second goal of the game once again extended the Lady Reds lead back to four at 9-5.  With the lead and a lack of time on their side, Carthage was able to hold on for a 9-7 road victory.
 
Vana led all scorers in the match with four points on four goals. Mussell joined Santin each with two goals, and Wittenborg's solo goal capped off the scoring.  Wittenborg added two assists to tie for the team-high in the match along with Marissa Vavra.
 
In net, Taylor Sopron improved to 8-3 on the year after recording eight saves against the 15 shots that were on target.  Additionally, the senior goalkeeper turned in a career-high seven ground balls to lead all players in the contest.
 
The Lady Reds will return to Art Keller Field for their final two matches of the regular season beginning with Dubuque University Saturday, April 23^rd at 1:00 PM, followed by the regular season finale and Senior Day festivities on April 30^th against North Central College.