Box Score After falling behind 3-0 against Carthage in the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference tournament championship, the Augustana women's lacrosse team was able to battle back and win by a final 17-11 margin on Saturday, May 3^rd at Thorson-Lucken Field. Head coach Sara Tisdale's crew climbed to 18-0 on the year and is just one of two unbeaten teams remaining in Division III. Carthage ended its season with an 11-7 record.
 
Down 3-0 with 22:57 left in the opening half, Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) and Hilary Kargl (Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Ky.) teamed up for the Vikings' first score of the contest. The Lady Reds answered to push the lead back to three but Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich HS, Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) and Kargl found the back of the net 32 seconds apart to cut the Augustana deficit to one at 4-3. Carthage responded at the 15:45 mark to recapture a two-goal advantage but Kelly Stelzer (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) and Mayer each tallied scores to tie the contest at 5-5.
 
Second-seeded Carthage took its final lead of the night with just 8:19 remaining until intermission but the next three goals belonged to the hosts as Augustana found itself ahead 8-6 after a Mayer goal at the 5:50 mark. The visitors capitalized on a free-position shot to cut the Augustana lead to one but Stelzer had the final say of the half to put the Vikings up 9-7 at the intermission.
 
Coming out of half-time Mayer and Stelzer fired off goals to double the Augustana lead before Carthage took advantage of another free-position attempt to make the score 11-8. Tisdale's unit secured its second NCAA tournament appearance in as many years by scoring the next four goals to go up 15-8. Carthage scored with 11:08 remaining to make the score 15-9 but Kargl found the net for the fourth time to push the lead back to seven with under ten minutes remaining. The Lady Reds tallied the next two scores but Kargl found the back of the net for the fifth time of the night to round out the scoring with a 17-11 Augustana advantage.
 
Juniors Stelzer and Kargl along with freshman teammate Mayer all scored five goals in the contest. Handrahan and Annie Hopkins (Mother Mcauley HS, Chicago, Ill.) each had one tally for the Vikings.  Kargl also registered three assists in the championship while Handrahan, Kaylee Nolan (Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.), and Stelzer all recorded one.
 
Augustana ended the game with a 32-24 shot advantage to go along with an 18-14 ground ball margin. Kargl along with goalkeeper Jenna Hofmann (Columbine HS, Littleton, Colo.) tied for a game-high three ground balls. The Vikings held a slight 16-14 lead in draw controls as Shelby Cosman (Marian Catholic HS, St. John, Ind.) grabbed seven. The Vikings held Carthage to just 9 successful clears out of 18 attempts while converting on 14-16 attempts themselves.
 
Hofmann finished with nine saves in the contest in addition to one of Augustana's 13 caused turnovers. Nolan caused three Carthage turnovers while Cosman forced two.
 
With the victory over the Lady Reds, Augustana won an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament which will begin on Wednesday, May 7^th.  The opponent, site, and game-time will be announced during the NCAA Selection on Sunday, May 4^th at 8:30 p.m.