Box Score Sophomore Kendall Maduro (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) found the back of the net with 21:10 remaining in the first half to give the Augustana women's lacrosse team a lead it would not again relinquish in its 14-9 victory against North Central on Tuesday, April 22^nd at Thorson-Lucken Field. The Vikings moved to an unblemished 13-0 overall and 7-0 in Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference play while North Central fell to 6-5 on the year and 5-2 in the league.
 
Head coach Sara Tisdale's crew took the lead just 30 seconds into the contest when Kaylee Nolan (Carl Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) was assist by teammate Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.). Less than a minute later the Cardinals had evened the score,  but soon after Nolan tallied her second goal to put the blue and gold up 2-1. North Central fought back and tallied the equalizer with 23:43 left before intermission but Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) scored her first of three goals to put the hosts back up by one. The Cardinals rallied once more with a goal to tie the game at three but Maduro put Tisdale's crew up for good.
 
Augustana scored four of the next five goals to go ahead 8-4 with 6:56 left in the half but North Central scored three straight goals to cut the halftime deficit to one at 8-7. At the half, the Vikings had outshot the visitors by an 18-13 margin and held the ground ball advantage at 11-9. Tisdale's crew also controlled 8-15 first half draws.
 
Following the intermission Augustana scored three straight goals for an 11-7 lead. North Central slipped one past Sarah Osier ( Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) to pull within three but that would be the closest the Cardinals would come over the final 15:20. Tisdale's team put away three more goals for a controlling 14-8 lead before the visitors scored the final tally of the contest for the final score of 14-9.
 
Maduro and Mayer led the blue and gold with three goals each. Stelzer, Nolan, and Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) all tallied a pair of goals while Rebecca Pollard (Westfield HS, Carmel, Ind.) and Annie Hopkins (Mother Mcauley HS, Chicago, Ill.) both added a goal.
 
Tisdale's unit assisted on half of its goals for the 11^th time this season. Mayer was the lone Viking with multiple assists at two. Stelzer, Maduro, Handrahan, Nolan, and Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) each tallied an assist in the contest.
 
Overall, Augustana outshot the visitors by a 37-20 margin, including a 19-7 second half mark. The Vikings controlled the ground ball category with 26-42 gathered in the contest. Draws ended even at 12 for each team.
 
Maduro led the Vikings with five ground balls to go along with a team-high three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Stelzer and Nolan each also registered a trio of draw controls. Emily Pavlik (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange, Ill.) led Augustana with three of its 10 caused turnovers in the match.
 
Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HS, Littleton, Colo.) got the start in the net and bettered her record to 11-0 on the year. The sophomore recorded four saves and allowed seven goals before intermission. Osier played the second half for Augustana and registered five saves while limiting the Cardinals to just two goals.
 
On the calendar next for the Vikings is a trip to Aurora on Saturday, April 26^th which is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. The Spartans are 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the league after losing their last two contests in overtime. Augustana won the only meeting between the programs by a 23-1 margin in 2013.