HOLLAND, Mich. - Trailing 23-21 with three minutes to play, the Saint Mary's lacrosse team scored three goals to take a thrilling 24-23 win over Hope on Friday night.

 

There was no shortage of scoring in the opening quarter of action. The host Flying Dutch took a 3-0 lead through the first 3:06 of play before Katie Haas broke through for the Belles' first goal of the game. Hope responded with a goal for a 4-1 lead, but the Belles built a lot of momentum with a three-goal spurt with Gabby Belsito scoring once and Shannon McCloskey finding the back of the net twice to make it 4-4 midway through the period. Hope regained the lead with a pair of quick goals. Bridget Kane broke up the spurt with a free position goal, but the Flying Dutch gained a 7-5 edge with more than five minutes remaining in the quarter with a free position goal of their own. Kane, McCloskey, and Belsito all buried shots in the span of 38 seconds to give Saint Mary's their first lead of the game at 8-7. Hope quickly countered with two goals, but Bridget Kane knotted the score with 1:46 on the clock to send the game to the first break tied 9-9.

 

That late tally in the first quarter by Kane helped start a four-goal scoring run. Belsito, Kane, and Christiana Singler each scored to open the second quarter, and the Belles pushed ahead 12-9. Erin Dotson added a goal with under six minutes remaining and added another goal on a free position chance less than a minute later to keep the Belles ahead at 14-12. The Flying Dutch gave the game its fifth tie in only the second quarter with back-to-back goals as the sides were even at 14-14. Belsito quickly regained the lead for Saint Mary's, and McCloskey added another goal less than 20 seconds later as the Belles held a 16-14 advantage at the half.

 

Back-to-back McCloskey goals followed by another strike by Kane pushed Saint Mary's ahead 19-15 with more than eight minutes to play in the third, but Hope stormed back with four consecutive goals to tie the game yet again. The Flying Dutch hopes of gaining a lead in the third, however, were cut down by a Katie Haas free position goal to put the Belles up 20-19 through three complete.

 

Christiana Singler saw to it that the Belles made the most of a player-up situation with a goal in the opening two minutes for a 21-19 advantage. The Flying Dutch used back-to-back goals in a short span of time to tie the game at 21-21 before taking a lead less than a minute later as Hope went ahead for the first time in the game since their 9-8 advantage with 2:06 in the first quarter. The Flying Dutch continued to build late momentum with a player-up goal of their own with 6:28 to play for a 23-21 lead. The Belles locked in on both ends of the field down the stretch. Alexis Fady made a save on the next Hope possession, and the Belles forced the Flying Dutch into a possession clock violation with under four minutes to go. Katie Haas then buried a goal off of a feed by Belsito to edge Saint Mary's within one with 2:52 on the clock. The defense came up big again, and the Belles turned defense into offense with Dotson finding the back of the net off of a pass by Belsito to knot the game at 23-23 with under two minutes remaining. Katie Haas won the next draw, but the Flying Dutch made a save on a free position with a minute and a half to go. A strong redefend by the Belles, however, saw Hope turn the ball over deep in the Saint Mary's offensive end as Gabby Belsito picked up the ground ball. After a Saint Mary's timeout, the Belles worked the ball around the critical scoring area as Christiana Singler made a play at the endline to both keep the ball alive and keep the possession in favor of the Belles in an effort that does not go down in the scorebook. Saint Mary's capitalized as Belsito used a pass at the top of the eight-meter arc to lead Bridget Kane to the right side of the critical scoring area as the senior edged out her defender. Kane captured the pass, turned, and fired the game-winner past the Hope goalie with 46 seconds to go. Haas won the ensuing draw control, and the Belles were able to run out the clock in the 24-23 thriller.

 

Bridget Kane had a career-high six goal night - including the game-winner with under 50 seconds to play - while adding two assists, a team-best eight draw controls, three caused turnovers, and two ground balls. Shannon McCloskey added a huge career-high of her own with six goals on just seven shots. Gabby Belsito blew her career-high mark for points in a game out of the water with 10 as the senior tallied four goals and tied the school record for assists in a game with six as she hit the 100 career point plateau. 

 

Katie Haas posted a hat trick with three goals and tallied an assist with two caused turnovers. Haas added seven draw controls to become the sixth player for the Belles to reach 100 career draw controls. Erin Dotson had a hat trick of her own and posted an assist, two draw controls, and a caused turnover. Christiana Singler scored two goals and collected a ground ball all while keeping the possession alive for the Belles on the eventual game-winner. Sarah Frick picked up an assist while coming away with three draw controls.

 

Alexis Fady registered a new career-high with 11 saves and added a game-high  and career-best 12 ground balls. 

 

The Belles (5-4, 1-0 MIAA) are on the road on Wednesday, April 13 when they make the trip to Albion for a 7:00 p.m. conference competition.