Naperville, Ill. - Returning to action after their spring break trip to Kentucky last week, the  Illinois Tech women's lacrosse came out with a vengeance in their match Tuesday night at North Central College, scoring the first four goals of the opening quarter, and holding a 5-2 lead after the quarter concluded. But the Cardinals stormed back after halftime, outscoring the Hawks 6-1 in the third quarter to take the lead for the first time, and they never gave it back en route to a 14-12 victory. The Scarlet Hawks fell to 2-5 on the season. North Central improved to 3-3.

In the pivotal third quarter, the Cardinals controlled possession, allowing them to outshoot the Scarlet Hawks 13-3, creating the momentum for their comeback. Third quarter scoring by the opposition has been a trouble area for the Hawks, as they have been outscored 28-9 on the season in third quarter play.

To the Scarlet Hawks credit, they attempted to battle back in the fourth quarter, putting up three tallies, but the Cardinals would respond each time the Hawks pulled closer.

Senior Kelly Hitchcock achieved a career milestone during the match, notching her 100th career point with her assist on Faith Busche's goal at the 6:57 mark of the first quarter. Hitchcock finished the match with 103 career points, in less than one and a half seasons of play.

First Quarter (Illinois Tech 5 - North Central 2)
Hitchcock wasted no time getting the Scarlet Hawks on the board, as she took the opening draw, and broke free for an unassisted goal six seconds into the opening quarter. Hitchcock then added a pair of goals 42 seconds apart, with the second coming at 12:05 to give the Scarlet Hawks a 3-0 lead. Antonia Martinez added an unassisted tally at 8:53 to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead. North Central would finally get on the board at 7:31 when Lucy Culig scored on a feed from Annelise Oster to cut their deficit to 4-1. Faith Busche would answer for the Scarlet Hawks at 6:57, taking a feed from Hitchcock to put the Hawks back up by four goals at 5-1. Reese McMcullen would score late in the quarter for North Central to close their gap to three goals.

Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - North Central 3)
McMcullen would add her second goal at the 10:22 mark of the second quarter to pull the Cardinals within two goals. Abby MacKenzie followed with an unassisted goal at 7:53 to pull within one goal at 5-4. Busche would counter for the Hawks, scoring back-to-back goals in 39 seconds to put the Hawks back up by three at 5:30. Rachel Lawrence of the Cardinals and Hitchcock of the Hawks would each score a goal in the final five minutes of the quarter, giving Illinois Tech an 8-5 halftime lead.

Third Quarter (North Central 6 - Illinois Tech 1)
The Cardinals scored six unanswered goals in the third quarter to take an 11-8 lead, with MacKenzie scoring three of the goals. Martinez would score the Hawks only tally of the third quarter at 2:48 to pull within two goals at 11-9.

Fourth Quarter (North Central 3 - Illinois Tech 3)
The Scarlet Hawks and the Cardinals wound up trading goals in the final quarter, with Martinez scoring once and Hitchcock twice for the Hawks, and MacKenzie, Culig and Oster scoring for North Central.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Kelly Hitchcock with 6 goals on 9 shots, along with 1 assist for 7 total points. Hitchcock also had 2 ground balls and 10 draw controls.
• Faith Busche with 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points, 2 ground balls and 1 caused turnover.
• Antonia Martinez with 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points and 4 draw controls.
• Caitlin Davitt with 15 saves in the match.

Cardinals Watch

• Abby MacKenzie with 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points, 5 ground balls and 3 draw controls.
• Lucy Culig with 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points, 2 ground balls and 1 caused turnover.
• Annelise Oster with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points.
• Reese McMcullen with 2 goals and 1 assist and 4 ground balls.
• Madison Smith with 6 draw controls.

Inside The Box Score

• North Central outshot Illinois Tech 35-22.
• Illinois Tech was 3-3 on free position shots, while North Central converted on 2 of 3.
• Illinois Tech won the draw control battle 16-14.
• The Cardinals had a 20-7 advantage in ground balls.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will travel to Mount Vernon, Iowa on Saturday, March 23rd, when they take on the 7-1 Rams in a non-conference match at 2:00 PM CT.