NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- With a 31-10 shot advantage on Saturday, April 22, the Illinois Wesleyan women's lacrosse team defeated North Central College by a final score of 14-7. Sophomore Sara Dust propelled the team to victory on the offensive end with a season-high four goals. Junior Mariah Smith led the Titans defensively with six ground balls and five caused turnovers.

With a win the Titans improved to 10-5 on the season with a 3-1 record in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) and sit in second place in the conference standings. North Central falls to 9-6 overall with a 2-2 tally in the CCIW following the loss.

IWU outscored the Cardinals 8-4 in the first half behind strong offensive performances from Dust, Smith, sophomore's Sam Bidlack and Dani Engelbreit, and senior Maggie Krause. Dust scored three of her four goals in the first while Smith scored once. 

Bidlack assisted on four goals in the first half and in total finished the day with a game-high six assists alongside one goal. Engelbreit scored with 24:54 remaining in the first half, her first of two on the day. Krause beat the goalkeeper twice in the first to score her only two goals of the afternoon.

Illinois Wesleyan continued to add to their lead in the second half of action by outscoring the Cardinals 6-3. Despite scoring the opening goal of the second half and pulling within three scores, North Central was unable to prevent the Titans offensive onslaught.

The scoring dam broke for IWU with 21:26 to play in the half when Dust scored her fourth goal of the game. Minutes later, junior Abby Kushina got on the board with her 12th goal of the season, scoring off an assists from sophomore Grainne Kelly. 

Also scoring for the Titans on Saturday were Kelly (2) and sophomore Breanna Metry (1) Engelbreit tied Smith for the team lead in ground balls with six and Metry added five ground balls of her own. Junior Claire Quist made one save in goal.

North Central was led by Kassie Whaling and Mordyn McFarlane who each tallied two goals for the Cardinals. Anicia Mattingly led the team with five ground balls while Kat Schultz and Camille Seghesio combined to make 11 saves in goal.

What's Next?
The Titans play their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. against Elmhurst College. Elmhurst currently holds a record of 2-11 with a 1-2 record in the CCIW. Live stats for Wednesday's game can be found here.