SEWANEE, Tenn.  The Carthage College women's lacrosse team earned their first win of the season on Sunday as the Lady Reds defeated Birmingham Southern College in Sewanee, 19-16.
 
The win evens Carthage's record on the season at 1-1, while BSC falls to 1-5 on  the year.
 
Saturday saw an evenly played game in which Carthage narrowly out shot BSC, 36-34, despite losing face-offs, 23-14.
 
Rachel Mussell led all scorers with six goals in the game, followed by Maddie Griffin with four, Mackenzie Day with three, Nicole Bowman and Maddie Palmerson with two each and Kendell Santin and Bryanna Barrera each tallying one.
 
Carthage fell behind early, 2-1, but quickly recovered with a 4-0 run that gave the Lady Reds a 5-2 lead that they would never relinquish.
 
Leading 14-7, Birmingham Southern would make one last push with a 4-0 run but Carthage answered with thee goals by Mussell, Bowman and  Griffin to put the Lady Reds up for good at 17-12.
 
With the Lady Reds leading 19-13 with six minutes left, BSC went on a 3-0 run to get back into the game but with as the time ran out Carthage prevailed, 19-16.
 
The Lady Reds return to action next Saturday on the road as Carthage visits Aurora University for a regional matchup at 3:30 p.m.