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Nolan-Rosie
Kayleigh Wieska
14
Winner Carthage CARTHAGE 2-0
10
Calvin CALVIN 2-3
Winner
Carthage CARTHAGE
2-0
14
Final
10
Calvin CALVIN
2-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Carthage CARTHAGE 3 4 5 2 14
Calvin CALVIN 2 4 2 2 10

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse |

Women’s Lacrosse Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Calvin in Season Opener

Carthage 14, Calvin 10
MARQUETTE - The Carthage women's lacrosse team opened the 2026 season with a neutral-site victory in Marquette, Michigan, defeating the Calvin Knights. The Firebirds secured the win with a decisive third-quarter surge, outscoring the Knights and pulling away to control the contest.

How it Happened
FIRST QUARTER
  • Calvin jumped out to an early 2–0 advantage before the Firebirds responded. Piper LeFevre and Rosie Nolan found the back of the net at 8:02 and 6:57 to even the score at 2–2. Carthage closed the opening period with momentum, as Nolan scored off an assist from Reggie Ross at 5:40 to give the Firebirds a 3–2 lead.

SECOND QUARTER
  • The Firebirds extended their advantage early in the second quarter when Shannon Heitschmidt scored off a feed from Hannah Kim at 12:24 to make it 4–2. Calvin answered with a man-up goal at 11:59 to cut the deficit to one. Nolan responded with a man-down goal at 8:59 to push the lead to 5–3. The Knights then scored twice in quick succession to tie the game at 5–5. Carthage regained control late in the quarter, as Ross and Nolan scored at 1:18 and 0:29, respectively, to give the Firebirds a 7–5 lead. Calvin managed to score with one second remaining before halftime, trimming the margin to 7–6.

THIRD QUARTER
  • Carthage opened the second half with a strong surge, scoring three straight goals from Nolan, Lefevre, and Kelsey O'Brien to extend the lead to 10–6. Calvin responded with a man-up goal at 6:54, but the Firebirds quickly answered with two unassisted goals from Karlie Young (4:03) and O'Brien (1:30) to push the advantage to 12–7. The Knights added a late goal with four seconds left in the quarter, sending the teams into the fourth at 12–8.

FOURTH QUARTER
  • The teams traded goals throughout the final period. O'Brien opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 13:59 to make it 13–8. Calvin responded at 8:20, but Ross answered with an unassisted goal to extend the Firebirds' lead to 14–9. The Knights added one final goal at 3:52, but Carthage held on to secure the 14–10 victory.  


High Flyers
 
  • Nolan led the Firebirds with five goals.
  • Ross finished with two goals and one assist. 
  • The Firebirds took 31 shots, 19 being on goal.
  • Xochitl Delvale-Vera finished with 10 saves.


Coach's Remarks

"I'm really proud of how we came out today", said head coach Maddie Berni. "We spent a lot of time this week preparing and game planning, and I thought we executed well. Definitely have a lot to work on and learn from this game, but that's to be expected with it being our first of the season. Excited to see as we get more into a rhythm, both on our defense and our offense, where this team will go this season! Go birds!"

Up Next

The Firebirds will return to action on Saturday, February 21, at 1 p.m., traveling to Greencastle, Indiana, to take on DePauw. For more information, visit our athletics.carthage.edu.
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