KENOSHA, Wis. - With the Firebirds facing a two-goal deficit to begin the second half of play, a trio of freshmen - along with the team's defense - stepped up in a massive way to help Carthage come back and win its' fourth game in a row. A hat trick in the second half from Shannon Heitschmidt proved to be enough for Carthage to edge out the Knights in the team's last game before its' trip to Kentucky over Spring Break. 



 

• Final score: Carthage 12, Calvin 9. 
• Location: Art Keller Field - Kenosha, Wisconsin. 
• Records: Carthage 4-1, Calvin 2-3. 

 

• Calvin's Megan Gilbert opened up the scoring on the afternoon, converting three minutes into the contest off of a feed from Mekaelah McClymont. 
• The Firebirds promptly responded with a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead, with goals from LeFevre (two), Oda (one), and Harris (one). 
• The Knights rattled off a 5-1 run following the surge from Carthage - taking advantage of a woman-up opportunity for two of the conversions. After a goal from McClymont, Calvin led 6-5 at the 10:16 mark of the second period. 
• Heitschmidt and LeFevre each scored to reestablish Carthage's lead, with the home team up 7-6 with just under eight minutes remaining in the second period. Calvin had an answer yet again, however, scoring three consecutive goals to end the first half with a 9-7 lead. 
• The Firebirds' defense tightened up significantly in the second half, not allowing a single goal as the offense found a spark, scoring five goals to take the lead and - ultimately - the victory. 
• Shannon Heitschmidt recorded a hat trick in the second half alone, finding the back of the net three times to help fuel Carthage's comeback. Higgins and LeFevre also each scored in the final period. After allowing seven goals in the second period, Carthage allowed only five total shots during the second half.

 

• Shannon Heitschmidt recorded her best offensive output as a Firebird against Calvin, scoring four goals (three in the second half) on five shots to help lead the Firebirds to victory. The first-year athlete also recorded two ground balls and caused two turnovers. 
• Piper LeFevre continued her inspiring play, scoring four goals on six shots while tallying four ground balls, four caused turnovers, and three draw controls. 
• Kyleigh Higgins played the role of facilitator well once again, assisting two teammates en route to a four-point performance against the Knights. Higgins also recorded two ground balls and a team-leading five draw controls. 
• Hannah Koehlert, and the Carthage defense as a whole, were lights out in the second half - allowing no goals on only five shots. Koehlert recorded five ground balls this afternoon. 
• After allowing nine goals in the first half, Alessandra Almendarez locked down - saving a season-high 12 shots while blanking Calvin in the second half. Almendarez now sits just one save away from 300 in her career. 

"Really proud of how everyone stepped up," remarked Carthage College head women's lacrosse coach John Sung after a hard fought win. "We went through some adversity today, not having Maddie Berni in the lineup and unfortunately Rachel [Harris] was carded-out - we had to make a lot of adjustments today."

"Just really proud of how we responded. We really called on a couple of kids to play some big minutes who haven't played much this season. Kailey [Wagner] really stepped up on the defensive end to fill a void for us. I'm really, really proud of what she was able to do."

"Shannon [Heitschmidt], Kyleigh [Higgins], and Piper [LeFevre] - man, at the end of that game, they took over. The three of them scored the last five goals for us - Shannon had three of the last five, just controlling our offense when we needed it."

"Again, I'm just really proud of all the adjustments that we made as a staff and as a team, and I'm just really excited to start Spring Break on a good win and we're excited to see what happens on our trip."

• Women's lacrosse will spend a few days in Kentucky over Spring Break, first taking on Centre College on Wednesday, March 15 beginning at 6:30 p.m.