VERONA, Wis. - Trailing 2-1 in the first quarter, the Saint Mary's lacrosse team went on a 9-0 run over the next ten minutes and never looked back in a 20-6 win over Edgewood on Sunday afternoon.

 

The Belles jumped on the scoreboard just 10 seconds into the game as Katie Haas won the opening draw control and collected an assist on Gabby Belsito's first goal of the year. The Eagles countered with their own draw control and goal in a short span of time to even the score. Edgewood capitalized on an extra-player opportunity a short while later for a 2-1 lead 2:50 into play. Less than a minute later, a redefend by Saint Mary's got the ball back for the Belles, and Katie Haas buried a free position shot to knot things up at 2-2. Haas came away with the ensuing draw, and Christiana Singler put away her first collegiate goal off of a feed from Belsito for a 3-2 lead less than four minutes into the opening period. Haas and Bridget Kane each scored on free position opportunities within 25 seconds of one another as the Belles turned up the offensive production. Erin Dotson scored on a free position with Saint Mary's down a player after a yellow card, and Sarah Frick got into the goal-scoring column for a 7-2 advantage. Kane put away a goal off of a pass from Julia Gorski, and Haas added a pair of goals in the final two minutes as Saint Mary's took a 10-2 lead into the second quarter.

 

The Belles continued to be locked in offensively and got the running clock going just 3:36 into the second period after goals by Haas and Kane made it a 12-2 score. The pair each added another goal in the quarter as Saint Mary's outscored Edgewood by a 13-0 from the 11:30 mark in the first stanza through the halftime whistle.

 

Singler and Shannon McCloskey each tallied a goal in the third quarter, and Singler capped off a hat trick in her first collegiate contest with a goal early in the fourth quarter. Valentina Rubio registered her first collegiate goal for an 18-6 advantage for Saint Mary's before Julia Gorski capped off the scoring with her first multi-goal game of her career with a pair of goals down the stretch.

 

The Belles were strong in the midfield to set the tone against the Eagles. Saint Mary's was 17-of-18 in clears in the game while limiting Edgewood to a 13-of-30 effort in clears. The Belles caused 12 turnovers to the Eagles' eight, and Saint Mary's posted 32 ground balls in the victory while Edgewood posted 18.

 

The 20 goals scored by the Belles matches the program record for the most in a season-opener as the 2018 team also scored 20 in the first contest of the season (W, 20-12 vs. Elmhurst, March 6). Moreover, the 31 points (20 goals, 11 assists) by the team marked the 14th time in program history the squad has reached the 30-point plateau in a contest.

 

Katie Haas matched her career-high with six goals and set a new career-best with seven points. The senior added four draw controls, three ground balls, two caused turnovers, and an assist. Bridget Kane posted four goals and an assist for five points while collecting a game-high seven draw controls, five ground balls, and four caused turnovers. Gabby Belsito set a new career-best mark for assists with four to go along with a goal, three ground balls, and her first two collegiate draw controls. Christiana Singler notched a hat trick with three goals. Julia Gorski had a career-high two goals and added an assist. Erin Dotson added three points with a goal and two assists, and Shannon McCloskey and Sarah Frick each posted multi-point games with a goal and an assist each. Valentina Rubio posted her first collegiate goal for the Belles and had two draw controls. 

 

On the defensive end, Frick tallied a game-best three caused turnovers. Lindsey Herdsman posted a career-high five ground balls. Kathleen Soller collected a career-best two caused turnovers, and Elizabeth Bourassa chipped in a career-high two caused turnovers. Alexis Fady posted her first collegiate win in goal with a save in better than 34 minutes of play. Emma Zmudzinski closed out the final 25-plus minutes of action and added a save.

 

The Belles (1-0) are back on the field on March 2 when they travel to North Central for a 7:00 p.m. CST contest against the Cardinals.