KENOSHA, WIS.—The Carthage College women's soccer team opened College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play at Art Keller Field against North Central College (Ill.) on Saturday. The Cardinals, who earned a spot in the 2016 CCIW Tournament via a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lady Reds, took care of business again with a 4-3 victory.
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Despite the loss, Carthage mustered a 17-15 advantage in shots and generated four penalty-kick opportunities.
Erin Otto scored for the Lady Reds twice while
Jacey Kent capitalized on her first-career goal.
Maggie Washelesky led all players with four shot attempts in the contest.
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The loss drops Carthage's record to 7-4, 0-1 CCIW while North Central takes a 5-4-1, 1-0 CCIW record out of Saturday.
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North Central 4, Lady Reds 3
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The Cardinals opened the game with five shot attempts within the opening 20 minutes before the Lady Reds responded with four of their own. But it was the Cardinals drawing first blood when Sarah Gaither registered a goal in the 37
th minute to make the score 1-0, where things stayed through intermission.
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Anna Brodjian's sixth goal of the season in the 49
th minute widened North Central's advantage to 2-0 before Carthage responded. It was Kent providing the spark plug when she took a pass from
Anna McHatton 30 yards in front of the net on the right of Cardinals goalkeeper Gretchen Frantz. Kent drove the ball up five yards before she let go a ground-ball shot that fooled Frantz in the 54
th minute to cut the margin to 2-1.
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The Cardinals converted on two of their next three shots to widen their cushion to 4-1 in the 64
th minute. Â
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The deficit didn't hinder Carthage's confidence as they responded with a 10-0 advantage in shots for the duration of the game. That first shot to find the back of the net was Otto's in the 79
th minute to narrow the Cardinal's lead to 4-2. The Lady Reds capitalized on their final corner kick of the game with :45 left when Otto blasted her second goal of the game, and sixth of the season to narrow the gap to 4-3.
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The Lady Reds ran out of time to generate magic in a 4-3 loss to North Central. Carthage goalkeeper
Emily Furmanek tallied four saves in a complete-game effort.
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The Lady Reds will return to competition on Wednesday, October 4 at Wheaton College (Ill.). Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.
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