LAKE WALES, Fla. - Saint Mary's College Lacrosse defeated Warner University, 18-8, in their final game in Florida on Saturday. The Belles improve to 4-1 on the year while the Royals drop to 4-6.
Saint Mary's got out to a dominating start to open the game, getting out to a 6-0 lead less than 10 minutes in. Junior Kelsey King (Sylvania, OH) got the game started with a goal less than a minute in before following that up with her second straight goal two and a half minutes later, assisted by junior Lana Skibins (Granger, IN). Shortly after King's second goal, freshman June McMahon (River Forest, IL) added onto the lead with her first of the day. Junior Rachel Speckhard (Munster, IN) followed that up with two goals of her own, just a minute apart from each other. Junior Kathryn Kalinowski (Atlanta, GA) finished off the 6-0 run to open the game with a goal 30 seconds after Speckhard's second. After Warner added their first goal of the game, Speckhard secured her fourth straight hat-trick this season with an assist from McMahone to extend the lead. The Royals scored twice in the final three and half minutes to chip into the deficit, but allowed the Belles to head into the first break leading 7-3.
Warner continued their momentum into the second quarter, scoring just over a minute into the quarter to try and start their comeback. King found the back of the net while the Belles were a man up to secure her third goal of the day and her first collegiate hat-trick. McMahon followed that up shortly after to extend the lead again with another man up goal for Saint Mary's. The scoring wouldn't stop, as with two minutes to play senior Alyssa Grant (Oak Lawn, IL) tacked on her first goal of the day on a man up attack with an assist from Speckhard. Speckhard would close out the half with her fourth goal of the day with just 16 seconds remaining off a pass from Kalinowski to send the Belles into the halftime break with a strong 11-4 advantage.
The Belles offense stayed red hot to start the second half, scoring three goals in the first two and a half minutes. Speckhard added the first two less than two minutes in to add to her rising goal total on the game with assists coming from Skibins and Kalinowski. Grant then added to her total as Kalinowski added her third assist of the game. The Royals would add two goals in the third quarter to dig into the deficit. The Belles strong offense helped put them ahead, 14-6 heading into the final 15 minutes.
Grant found the back of the net again for her hat-trick, her third of the season, just 36 seconds into the fourth quarter. Warner added another goal before Speckhard finished home her incredible seventh goal on the afternoon. Warner found the back of the net once more in the game but Saint Mary's wasn't finished. Grant added her fourth goal on the day with a free position shot with under three minutes to play. McMahon would also find the back of the net for the third time, becoming the fourth Belle to tally a hat-trick in the game, with a free-position goal in the final minute. The Belles closed out a dominating victory to get themselves back in the win column with a strong 18-8 win.
Speckhard led the team with a career-high seven goals on the game while Grant followed with four and both King and McMahon tallied their first collegiate hat-tricks with three each. Kalinowski also added a goal while leading the Belles with three assists on the day. Skibins added two assists while Speckhard and McMahon each had one.
McMahon led the team with four draw controls on the game while sophomore Piper Downey (Northbrook, IL) and freshmen Ella Klingerman (Noblesville, IN) and Sophia Martinello (Elmhurst, IL) added three each. Klingerman also added a game-high six ground balls while both Martinello and sophomore Katie Krajewski (Grand Rapids, MI) added four.
In goal, sophomore Kaya Seaboy (Evansville, IN) made 11 saves on the day while facing 19 shots on goal. This was Seaboy's third consecutive game tallying double-digit saves.
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's returns home for back-to-back games next week, starting with the home opener on March 18 as they host the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a 3pm start. The Belles then host Elmhurst University on March 21 and will celebrate Senior Day after the game.
