Naperville, Ill. - Courtney Pontious and Salem Carlow teamed up for 10 goals to lead the Transylvania women's lacrosse team to a runaway 16-6 victory over the North Central College Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
The Pioneers broke open a two-goal margin at halftime in the second half, outscoring the Cardinals 10 to 2 on the way to sharpening their overall record to 2-2 for the season. North Central fell to 1-2 overall.
Saturday's win also marked a significant milestone for Translyvania women's lacrosse head coach Lauren Wentworth, who achieved her 100th career head coaching victory. Wentworth has notched 72 of her wins at Transy after collecting the first 28 wins of her career at Thomas College.
Transylvania began its weekend trek to Illinois showing off the full scope of its offense. After the Cardinals grabbed an early 2-0 lead, the Pioneers responded with their first sizable onslaught of the day, reeling off four consecutive goals to grab a 4-2 advantage at the midway point of the first half.
RJ Johnston set up Mandi Rider for the first goal of the day at the 22:41 mark and Pontious scored on back-to-back goals for Transylvania's first lead with 19:39 left in the first half. North Central pulled within one goal at 4-3 with under eight minutes to go in the first period, but Pontious achieved her fourth consecutive hat-trick to open up the 2021 season moments later for a 5-3 Transy lead.
Transylvania's offense outpaced North Central's in the first half, amassing 13 shots on goal to the Cardinals' 10 in securing a 6-4 halftime advantage.
Ysa Leon jumpstarted Transylvania's offense out of the break, scoring 22 seconds into the half to commence a run of eight unanswered goals by the Pioneers. Pontious scored her fourth goal of the afternoon five minutes later to push Transy ahead, 8-4, and Carlow took the scoring baton from Pontious with three consecutive scores to spot the Pioneers an 11-4 outlook with 21 minutes remaining. Linley Dawson, Rider, and Carlow rounded out the run with strikes for a 14-4 advantage with 20 minutes to go in the contest.
Transylvania relied on its defense over the next 15 minutes to work towards its conclusion. The Cardinals scored on back-to-back goals before Pontious put the finishing touches on the day with two final scores on the way to a 6-goal game for the senior.
Carlow finished the day with four goals, six draw controls, one caused turnover, and one ground ball. Pontious added an assist to her six-goal showing along with a team-high eight draw controls and four caused turnovers. Leon put up three points on the afternoon and added three ground balls to go with a caused turnover.
Abi Waldron provided eight saves in goal to pick up the win over the full 60 minutes for Transylvania.
The Pioneers continue their weekend trip with a nonconference match against the Illinois Wesleyan Titans tomorrow in Bloomington, Illinois. Opening draw is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight time from Tucci Stadium.
For more on Transylvania women's lacrosse, follow @TransyWLax on Twitter
