NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team kept visiting Hope off the scoreboard over the final quarter of play while adding two goals of their own in the last period to capture a 16-13 win in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal round on Wednesday.

 

The first quarter of the game was a back-and-forth battle for all 15 minutes. Hope got on the scoreboard first only to see Saint Mary's respond 12 seconds later with an unassisted goal by Katie Haas. The Flying Dutch used a goal of their own less than a minute later followed by another goal to take a 3-1 lead with under nine minutes remaining on the clock. Both teams dialed up the defensive intensity over the next five minutes of play with each side getting a save while the Belles forced a pair of turnovers to Hope's one caused turnover. That second caused turnover was key as Lindsey Herdsman came away with a strong play in the midfield for both the caused turnover and the ground ball, and Katie Haas buried her second goal of the game to make it 3-2. Strong redefend by Sarah Frick a short while later led to a goal for Gabby Belsito as the Belles tied the game with 3:23 on the clock. Erin Dotson won the next draw control, and the Belles kept the possession alive with a successful chase on a shot. Belsito connected with Haas, and Haas put away the 100th goal of her career to give the home side a 4-3 lead. Hope had a defense-to-offense goal of their own to knot the game at 4-4, but that momentum was short-lived after Bridget Kane won the draw, beat the defense, and scored 15 seconds later. Erin Dotson won another draw for the Belles, and Julia Gorski put away a shot from a tight angle off of a pass by Shannon McCloskey late in the quarter for a 6-4 Saint Mary's lead at the first break.

 

The Flying Dutch opened the second period with back-to-back goals in a 2:31 span to tie the game at 6-6. Erin Dotson gave the Belles the lead quickly off an assist from Kane for a 7-6 advantage. The battles at both ends continued to be led by defensive plays from each team as the score remained unchanged over the next eight-plus minutes of action. Ultimately, Hope used a timeout and used that break to the fullest advantage by scoring a goal with 3:51 on the clock to make it a 7-7 game. A little over a minute later, a shot saved by Alexis Fady and deflected out of bounds remained with the Flying Dutch, and Hope took their first lead since the first quarter with a goal with 2:15 to play in the half. Fady came up with a big save on a free position shot by Hope moments later, and the Belles capitalized as Gabby Belsito knotted things up at 8-8.

 

The third quarter started with a flurry of goals as seven goals were recorded over the opening 4:19 of the period. That stretch saw Saint Mary's take a 9-8 lead on a Shannon McCloskey goal before Hope edged ahead 10-9. Sarah Frick tied the game at 10-10, and Christiana Singler pulled the Belles even at 11-11. Erin Dotson gave Saint Mary's a 12-11 lead off a feed from Gabby Belsito with 10:41 remaining in the quarter. Another stretch of tight play by both sides saw the Hope goalie make two saves before Shannon McCloskey got a stick on a free position attempt by the Flying Dutch with under nine minutes to go in the third quarter. Hope took full advantage of a failed clear attempt by the Belles to tie the game for the tenth time in the contest with a goal with 7:34 on the clock. Erin Dotson made quick work of a free position attempt just 10 seconds later as the junior put away a goal for a 13-12 lead, and Katie Haas pushed the Belles ahead 14-12 with a goal with 4:54 on the clock. The Flying Dutch pulled within a goal at 14-13 with under two minutes in the quarter, but Alexis Fady collected a save and the Belles continued their steady defensive efforts to carry the one-goal lead into the fourth quarter.

 

Fady added two more saves in the opening four minutes of the final period. The defense successfully fought off a player-down situation with another save, and a caused turnover by Lindsey Herdsman ultimately led to a goal by Erin Dotson for a 15-13 lead with 6:08 to play.The defense stood tall yet again as the Belles pressured the Flying Dutch into a pair of shots off the mark before another Fady save kept Hope off the scoreboard. Herdsman caused another key turnover, Valentina Rubio came away with the ground ball and used her speed in transition to clear the ball, and Shannon McCloskey buried a player-up goal with 2:48 remaining to all but lock up the win for the Belles. Bridget Kane had a caused turnover and ground ball on Hope's next possession as Saint Mary's drained more than a minute from the clock. In an all-around strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter, the Belles did not allow a shot down the stretch to close out a span of more than four minutes over the end of the game in which Hope was unable to register a shot.

 

Erin Dotson scored four goals, came away with a game-high seven draw controls, and picked up two ground balls to pace the Belles. Katie Haas added four goals - including her 100th career goal of her career - while tallying two draw controls, a caused turnover, and a ground ball. Gabby Belsito tallied two goals and three assists with a pair of caused turnovers. Shannon McCloskey posted two goals, an assist, and four ground balls. Bridget Kane collected a goal, an assist, three draw controls, three caused turnovers, and five ground balls. Sarah Frick had a goal, five draw controls, three ground balls, and a caused turnover. Julia Gorski and Christiana Singler each notched a goal while Gorski collected a ground ball. 

 

Valentina Rubio had a game-high seven ground balls to go with a pair of caused turnovers. Lindsey Herdsman added three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Elizabeth Bourassa chipped in a caused turnover and a ground ball. Alexis Fady recorded 11 saves in goal, including four in the fourth quarter to secure the win in goal.

 

The Belles are now set to host Trine for the MIAA Tournament Final on Saturday. Game time is to be determined due to commencement for Trine. A game time will be announced on Thursday.