NAPERVILLE — Four teams will compete this week for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin’s (CCIW) automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship when the 2026 CCIW Women’s Lacrosse Championship begins Wednesday night.
 
Semifinal matchups will be hosted by the tournament’s top two seeds. No. 3 Augustana will travel to No. 2 Carthage for a 5 p.m. start, while No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan will visit No. 1 Carroll at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will advance to the championship game on Saturday.
 
No. 1 Carroll Pioneers (14-2, 5-0 CCIW)
Carroll enters the postseason as the outright CCIW regular-season champion after completing its second consecutive undefeated conference schedule. The Pioneers are the defending tournament champions after winning the program’s first CCIW title in 2025.
 
Elizabeth Wang, the two-time CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year, led the conference during league play with 22 goals and 30 points. Carroll also had two additional specialty award recipients in Co-Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year Grace Tumilty and First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year Paige Helms. The Pioneers lead the CCIW in scoring offense at 15.1 goals per game.
 
No. 2 Carthage Firebirds (13-3, 4-1 CCIW)
Carthage earned the No. 2 seed after finishing 4-1 in conference play. The Firebirds enter the tournament with one of the top defensive units in Division III, allowing 4.88 goals per game.
 
Kaitlyn Goff was named CCIW Co-Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year after leading the conference with 7.8 draw controls per game during the CCIW schedule. First Team All-CCIW attacker Auggie Claridge leads the Carthage offense after averaging a league-best 5.2 points per game.
 
No. 3 Augustana Vikings (9-7, 2-3 CCIW)
Augustana finished third in the regular-season standings and will travel to Carthage for Wednesday’s semifinal. The Vikings led the CCIW in ground balls at 28.2 per game and caused turnovers at 15.1 per game.
 
Becca Lacina earned First Team All-CCIW honors after leading Augustana in assists at 2.13 per game. She was joined among the Vikings’ all-conference selections by Madison Langewisch and Colleen Chiavola.
 
No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan Titans (6-10, 2-3 CCIW)
Illinois Wesleyan secured the final tournament seed and will visit top-seeded Carroll in the semifinal round. The Titans lead the conference in saves per game at 10.8.
 
Senior midfielder Sadie Newton was named to the All-CCIW Second Team and ranked among the league leaders in draw controls and caused turnovers. Anelise DiGiovanni led the Illinois Wesleyan offense with 48 points during the regular season and was also named the program’s CCIW RESPECT Award recipient.
 
CCIW Championship History
The CCIW Women’s Lacrosse Championship began in 2015, with Augustana winning the first two tournament titles in 2015 and 2016. Illinois Wesleyan won three consecutive championships from 2017 through 2019. After the 2020 season was canceled, former associate member Chicago won four straight tournament titles from 2021 through 2024.
 
Carroll won its first CCIW tournament title in 2025 with a 12-2 victory over Carthage. The Pioneers enter the 2026 postseason as the defending tournament champion.