Saint Mary's College

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Soccer fell to Hope College in their MIAA opener on a very rainy night, 4-1. The Belles fall to 3-4-1 (0-1 MIAA) while the Flying Dutch improve to 5-3-1 (1-0 MIAA).
 
Saint Mary's got the game going quick, finding an offensive groove in the first minute. After controlling the ball on the right hand side, sophomore Mia Johnson (Mission Viejo, CA) found freshman Lily Larimer (Pittsford, NY) in the middle of the field. Larimer fought her way around two Hope defenders and placed a ball perfectly into the net to give the Belles a 1-0 lead just 40 seconds into the game.This goal broke an 11 game scoreless streak against the Flying Dutch for the Belles, the last goal coming in 2015.
 
Both teams fought back and forth throughout the first half before Hope would equalize on a ball down the left hand side in the 20th minute. While the two continued to battle one another in the midfield, the Flying Dutch added two more goals within three minutes of each other to head into halftime with a 3-1 advantage.
 
Hope continued to surge on offense to open the second half as they scored less than two minutes into the half to go ahead, 4-1. The Flying Dutch controlled possession for the majority of the second half as the Belles tried to get some opportunities through, but couldn't capitalize. As the heavy rain began to poor down over the Purcell Athletic Fields, both teams struggled to get good shot opportunities off as the game came to a close with Hope on top.
 
Larimer and fellow freshman Isabella Knese (St. Louis, MO) led the team with two shots each while the two and junior Danielle Escobedo (Yorba Linda, CA) added a shot on target each.
 
In goal, sophomore Meghan Krayer (Hinsdale, IL) finished the game with three saves while facing 17 total shots. In the cold rainy conditions, Isabella Knese was joined by senior Brooke Baumann (Bartlett, IL), junior Kayla O'Neal (Carlsbad, CA), and freshmen Chloe Knese (St. Louis, MO) and Lily Houle (Mount Vernon, IL) all played the full 90 minutes of the match.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's hits the road on Saturday as they travel north to Grand Rapids, MI to take on 10th ranked Calvin University at 1pm. The Belles then head to the University of Olivet on October 6 at 4pm before returning home to host Trine University for an 11am matchup on October 10.