CHICAGO, Ill. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team saw their season come to a close with a 17-2 setback against No. 8 ranked Denison in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse second round on Sunday afternoon.
The nationally-ranked Big Red took the opening draw control and struck quickly for a 1-0 lead. Denison added to their advantage with three more goals, but the Belles began to settle into the game.
Emily Kraker made her first save of the game before the Big Red made it a 5-0 score at 26:06. Kraker came up with another stop, and
Gabby Belsito and
Erin Doyle each registered a shot. Doyle had another attempt - a shot on goal - stopped, and Denison used that stop to score the other way for a 6-0 advantage.
The Belles called a timeout, and the defense dug in deep. Kraker added to her save total while the rest of the Saint Mary's defense made big plays reflected on and off the stat sheet. Saint Mary's fought off a player-down stretch midway through the half as the Belles kept Denison off the scoreboard for a span of nearly 16 minutes. The Big Red, however, closed out the first half with four goals to carry a 10-0 lead into halftime.
With just over ten minutes remaining in the second period, Saint Mary's capitalized on a player-up opportunity as
Erin Doyle found the back of the net with 10:08 to play to make it a 15-1 score. A Denison goal late in the contest made it 17-1, but the Belles continued to fight until the end.
Bridget Kane came away with the ensuing draw control, and
Molly Mullett buried a shot with 48 seconds to play.
Katie Haas then won the next draw control just before time expired as the Belles fell by the 17-2 final margin.
The Belles (13-5) finish the season with a school-record 13 wins along with the program's longest winning streak, first MIAA Tournament Championship, and first NCAA Championship appearance.
