ANGOLA, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team fell in a 14-13 overtime contest at Trine in conference action on Wednesday evening.

 

Bridget Kane scored in the opening minute of play for a quick Saint Mary's lead. Trine responded with a three-goal spurt over a three-minute span, but the Belles closed out the final six minutes of the opening quarter with three goals of their own. Gabby Belsito found the back of the net before assisting Shannon McCloskey's goal to tie the game at 3-3. Kane saw the Belles turn defense to offense late in the period with a goal with 1:16 on the clock to give Saint Mary's the 4-3 lead at the first break.

 

Trine knotted the game at 4-4, but Kane came away with the next draw control before Gabby Belsito regained the lead for Saint Mary's less than a minute later. Kane won the next draw, and the Belles capitalized on the possession as the senior scored off a pass from McCloskey. Sarah Frick then won the third draw in-a-row for the Belles, and Kane buried a free position goal for a 7-4 lead with 8:18 on the clock. Alexis Fady made a pair of saves over the next three minutes of action. Trine got a goal back with 2:22 remaining, but a late save by Fady kept the Belles ahead 7-5 at halftime.

 

The Thunder edged within a goal a minute into the third quarter, but Christiana Singler had a response goal with 10:58 on the clock for an 8-6 lead. Fady added another save while the Trine goalie had back-to-back saves of her own before Trine made it a one-goal game midway through the period. Kane came away with the next draw control and connected with Shannon McCloskey quickly as McCloskey put away her second goal of the game just a few seconds later for the 9-7 advantage. The Thunder scored a pair of goals to tie the game yet again at 9-9. Erin Dotson had the answer for the Belles with a ground ball and quick shot for a goal with under four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Fady collected another save, but the Thunder kept their possession alive and scored to tie the game at 10-10. Trine added two more quick goals to take their first lead since early in the game at 12-10, but Dotson struck again in the final minute of the stanza to make it a 12-11 game heading into the fourth quarter.

 

Dotson won the opening draw of the quarter, and the Belles used an extended possession of their own to tie the game at 12-12 on a Sarah Frick goal 1:30 into the period. Saint Mary's had a handful of good looks at regaining the lead saved over the next nine minutes of action. Fady added a save of her own with five minutes to keep the game deadlocked. Trine tallied a goal with 4:32 to play, but the Belles battled right back with Erin Dotson collecting a ground ball before Kane tied the game at 13-13 with just over three minutes to play in regulation. Kane had a shot turned away with a minute to play, but Alexis Fady came up with two big saves on free position shots in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime.

 

Valentina Rubio had a strong defensive play to get the ball for the Belles. Saint Mary's strung together a sequence of passes in the critical scoring area as Christiana Singler was given a free position opportunity. The Thunder goalie came up with the close-range save, but a strong re-defend by Gabby Belsito and Shannon McCloskey got the ball back just to the Belles just inside the restraining line. Another scoring chance for the Belles was saved, and a defensive play by the Thunder a few moments later saw Trine come away with the ball late in the first portion of overtime. After a timeout, the Thunder were able to connect a string of passes of their own before scoring the game-winning goal in the 14-13 final.

 

Bridget Kane led the Belles with five goals and added three assists as the senior tallied a caused turnover, four ground balls, and six draw controls. Gabby Belsito scored two goals, collected an assist, and had three ground balls. Shannon McCloskey posted two goals and an assist, and Erin Dotson scored two goals while taking five draw controls, three ground balls, and a caused turnover. Christina Singler had a goal and a ground ball. Valentina Rubio paced the defensive efforts with a career-high five caused turnovers to go along with four ground balls. Lindsey Herdsman added two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Alexis Fady made 10 saves in goal and picked up two ground balls.

 

The Belles (8-6, 4-2 MIAA) close out the regular season on Saturday at home against Alma. The game begins at 1:00 p.m. while the ten members of the senior class will be recognized after the completion of the contest.