GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Saint Mary's College Lacrosse defeated Aquinas College in their season opener on Saturday, 13-9. The Belles start the season 1-0 while the Saints start the season 0-1.

Saint Mary's got out to an early lead with three goals from three separate players in the first five minutes of the game. Senior Alyssa Grant (Oak Lawn, IL) scored the first goal of the season for the Belles just 14 seconds into the game. Junior Rachel Speckhard (Munster, IN) followed her up not long after with her first goal of the season. Shortly after Speckhard's goal, freshman June McMahon (River Forest, IL) scored her first collegiate goal. After an Aquinas goal, the Belles would add two more off the sticks of Lana Skibins (Granger, IN) and Grant getting her second of the period. Aquinas scored with just over a minute left to send the Belles into the first break with a 5-2 lead. Freshman Shelby Forsythe (Osceola, IN) earned her first collegiate assist on the Skibins goal.

While the Saints scored the first goal of the second quarter, Grant found the back of the net twice in the quarter to extend the Belles lead. Junior Kathryn Kalinowski (Atlanta, GA) assisted both of Grant's goals in the second quarter. Aquinas scored once more, sending the Belles into the halftime break with a 7-4 advantage in the season opener. 

While the third quarter was a slow start for both teams, Aquinas got on the board first to cut into the Saint Mary's lead. Shortly after, Skibins would score her second goal of the game while Kalinowski racked up her third assist of the game. The Saints scored with just over a minute to go in the quarter, sending the game into the fourth quarter with the Belles leading 8-6.

Grant found the back of the net twice within a four minute span to start the fourth quarter. Aquinas added a goal of their own before sophomore Annabelle Spruill (Brookhaven, GA) netted her first goal of the season. After the Saints added another goal, Grant added two more goals to her total, her third and fourth of the quarter, to extend the Belles lead late. Aquinas would score with two minutes left but that wasn't enough as Saint Mary's took the win in the season opener. Skibins added two assists in the quarter while Speckhard and sophomore Piper Downey (Northbrooke, IL) added one each.

Grant showed out in her return to the field, scoring eight goals on the day to lead the game. Skibins added two goals of her own while Speckhard, Spruill, and McMahon all added one. Kalinowski led the game with three assists while Skibins added two. Speckhard, Downey, and Forsythe also added assists on the day.

Grant led the Belles with 11 shots and 10 shots on goal as the Belles outshot the Saints, 25-14. McMahon and freshman Sophia Martinello (Elmhurst, IL) led the team with three ground balls each. McMahon and Spruill both tallied three draw controls to lead the team.

Defensively, Speckhard led Saint Mary's with three of the team's 15 caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Kaya Seaboy (Evansville, IN) tallied two saves on the day.

UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES

Saint Mary's continues their opening road swing with a trip to Illinois Tech on Tuesday at 5pm. The Belles close out the month of February with a trip to Beloit College on February 28.