COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University women's lacrosse team will make its first appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship game, this weekend. In the first round of this year's conference tournament held on Wednesday night, the second-seeded Crusaders defeated third seed John Carroll University by a score of 14-8 at Bernlohr Stadium.

Capital (12-4) dominated play in the first half, shutting out John Carroll (11-5) over the first 30 minutes. Led by senior Kim Hoerauf's five goals in the opening half, the Crusaders rolled out nine straight goals before heading into the locker room.

Hoerauf, a native of Worthington, Ohio, recorded her ninth hat trick of the season and did so just nine minutes into the game. Her third goal also prompted a goaltender change for John Carroll, which did not yield different results. Hoerauf also chipped in with an assist on Capital's final goal of the half, which was scored by sophomore Taylor Thomas (Massillon, Ohio) to put the hosts up 9-0. Thomas scored twice in the half, once by way of a free position shot.

Capital switched gears in the second half, slowing things down but still putting up six goals in the second half. Knowing there was much work to be done, the Blue Streaks cranked up their offensive output with 21 shots in the second half. Junior goaltender Maddie Wilson (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) made eight saves, including 4-of-5 on JCU free position shots, despite the amplified pressure.

John Carroll's Marielle St. Amand and Gina Vilsack each scored a pair of goals to help the Blue Streaks come within sniffing distance, but the closest they came was five goals and only had 0:36 left on the clock to make up the rest of the deficit.

Hoerauf finished the match with seven goals, setting a new career high that stood since her sophomore season when she scored six against Franciscan University in 2014. Her eight points also is a new career high.

On the defensive end, senior Julie Duren (Union, Ohio) led the Crusaders with four caused turnovers and was one of four players to collect three ground balls.    

The win marks the first postseason victory and trip to the OAC Championship for the women's lacrosse program. The Crusaders will now travel to Alliance, Ohio to play the top-seeded Purple Raiders of the University of Mount Union on Saturday, May 7. The time of the game has been set for 7 p.m.

Mount Union defeated Baldwin Wallace University, 11-4, at home on Wednesday night. The Purple Raiders defeated Capital, 7-6, in a thriller at Bernlohr Stadium on April 23. Mount Union is the reigning regular season and tournament champion after they defeated BW last season.