Belles Overpower Britons in Senior Day Victory

 

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team scored seven consecutive goals over a 10:51 span in the first half en route to a 20-4 win over Albion on Senior Day for the Belles' tenth win of the season.

 

The Belles got on the scoreboard first after capitalizing on a failed Albion clear attempt in the opening three minutes as Erin Dotson buried a shot off a feed from Erin Doyle. The Britons' goalie came up with three consecutive saves over the next five-plus minutes of play, and Albion scored after a timeout to knot the game 1-1 with 21:41 on the clock. Saint Mary's quickly regained the lead as Dotson found the back of the net for a second time with 20:42 remaining. The Belles saw a Dotson shot hit the post before Emily Kraker came up with three saves to keep the Brits off of the scoreboard. Erin Doyle then found the back of the net on an extended possession for Saint Mary's to make it 3-1 with 15:17 on the clock. The senior then won the ensuing draw control, raced directly to the goal, and scored just nine seconds later as the momentum continued to build in the Belles' favor. Kraker tacked on two more saves, and Doyle capped off a quick hat trick with 10:59 on the clock. Bridget Kane 21 seconds later, and Molly Mullett collected her first goal of the game to make it 7-1. Doyle then beat the Albion goalie on a free position shot as the Belles established an 8-1 lead with under ten minutes to go in the first half.

 

Albion ripped off a goal from just inside the eight-meter line to break up the Saint Mary's scoring run only to see Mullett capitalize on a failed clear attempt with a quick transition goal. The Brits responded with a goal 35 seconds later to make it a 9-3 game with 7:20 remaining in the opening half. Erin Doyle notched her fifth goal of the contest just 50 second later. After Sarah Frick caused a turnover with under five minutes left on the clock in the period, Erin Doyle found the back of the net for the sixth time of the game to reach 300 career goals.

 

After the halftime break, Kraker made an early save to keep the Britons off the scoreboard. Elizabeth Bourassa kept a possession alive with a ground ball pickup, and Katie Haas tallied her first goal of the game to push the Saint Mary's lead to 12-3. Haas struck again less than two minutes later to implement the running clock with the 13-3 lead before the junior completed the hat trick with her third goal on the next possession. Gabby Belsito made it a 15-3 game on the next Saint Mary's possession. The Brits got a goal back on their next scoring chance, but a free position goal by Bridget Kane ensured Albion would not edge any closer. Doyle added another goal, and Dotson scored a higlight reel-worthy behind-the-back goal as the Belles pushed the lead to 18-4. Liv Heppeler found her first goal of the season on Senior Day as the defender scored on her second shot of the day to make it 19-4. Doyle closed out the scoring with a pair of goals as the Belles captured the 21-4 victory.

 

The Belles outshot the Brits by a 50-17 margin in the game while holding a 34-15 avantage in ground balls and a 16-11 edge in draw controls. Saint Mary's was 15-of-20 on clear attempts on the day while limiting Albion to an 11-of-25 conversion on clears.

 

Erin Doyle led all players with nine goals and three assists for 12 points on the day. The senior scored her 300th career goal in the win, joining elite company in NCAA Division III women's lacrosse history as only nine players prior to this season had eclipsed the 300-goal plateau in the history of Division III women's lacrosse. Doyle added five ground balls, five draw controls, and four caused turnovers as she moved above the 150 career draw control total. Erin Dotson posted three goals, an assist, four ground balls, and a draw control. Katie Haas chipped in three goals, an assist, three ground balls, and three draw controls. Bridget Kane scored two goals, added an assist, picked up four ground balls, came away with seven draw controls, and  caused four turnovers. Molly Mullett also had two goals and an assist to go along with a game-high nine ground balls. Gabby Belsito tallied a goal and an assist with three ground balls. Liv Heppeler scored a goal and picked up a ground ball. Emily Kraker made 10 saves in goal over the first 49+ minutes of play, and Alexis Fady made a save over the final 10+ minutes of action.

 

The Belles (10-4, 6-1 MIAA) await word from the conference as to the final regular season standings. The next game for Saint Mary's will be the MIAA Tournament Quarterfinal round and will take place on Saturday, April 24 with a time and opponent to be determined.