ANGOLA, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team out-scored Trine 13-7 in the second half to take a 20-12 win over the Thunder in conference play on Saturday evening.
Erin Dotson opened up the scoring with a goal 2:03 into play, but the Thunder responded with back-to-back goals for a 2-1 lead with 17:37 left on the clock in the first period. Dotson was not going to be denied as the sophomore scored a pair of goals in the span of 34 seconds to put the Belles ahead 3-2.
Bridget Kane added a goal two minutes later,
Emily Kraker made a big save on a free position shot, and
Molly Mullett buried a free position shot of her own to make it a 5-2 Saint Mary's lead with 10:45 remaining in the opening half. The Thunder got a goal back three minutes later, but Haas found the back of the net for a second time to make it a 6-3 score. Trine made a push late in the half to cut the deficit to a goal at 6-5 with 1:23 on the clock.
Molly Mullett, however, came away with the ensuing draw attempt and cut right through the Trine defense before burying a goal with 1:09 left in the period as the Belles took a 7-5 lead at the half.
Saint Mary's came out of the break and scored three goals - a quick goal by
Gabby Belsito, one by Dotson, and one by
Katie Haas - as the Belles extended the lead to 10-5 less than seven minutes into the period. The Thunder countered with a pair of goals in the span of 1:02, but the Belles were too steady on both ends of the field over the next nine minutes. Saint Mary's posted six consecutive goals to build a 16-7 lead with 8:10 remaining.
Erin Doyle scored twice, Haas added two more goals, and Dotson and Kane each chipped in a goal as the Belles took control of the game. The two sides traded goals back-and-forth before Trine put three goals on the scoreboard to make it 18-12 with 2:03 to play, but
Bridget Kane and
Erin Doyle capped off the highest-scoring game of the season for Saint Mary's with a goal each for the 20-12 victory.
The Belles (7-4, 3-1 MIAA) have a week before their next contest as they travel to Kalamazoo on Saturday, April 10 for a 4:00 p.m. conference game against the Hornets.