NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team came up just short in a 12-11 double overtime conference game against Adrian on Saturday night.

 

The Belles stormed out to a quick 3-0 lead with three consecutive goals by Alyssa Grant over the opening 5:04 of action. The Bulldogs netted two goals, but Lana Skibins put a stop to that scoring spurt with a goal for a 4-2 lead for the Belles through one quarter.

 

Adrian pulled even at 4-4 with 8:35 on the clock in the second quarter. Saint Mary's had another quick response to the Bulldogs as Cate Krema put away a goal just 28 seconds later. Christiana Singler converted a free position chance two and a half minutes later to give the Belles a 6-4 edge. The Bulldogs, however, used a free position goal of their own with just under five minutes on the clock to make it a 6-5 score through 30 minutes of play.

 

The two sides traded goals to start the third quarter with Christiana Singler adding another goal for a 7-6 Saint Mary's lead with 11:11 on the clock. Back-to-back Adrian goals over the next four-plus minutes of play, however, gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 8-7. Lana Skibins scored a player-down goal for the Belles with five minutes remaining in the period to draw Saint Mary's even at 8-8, but a late Adrian goal gave the visiting side a 9-8 lead going into the fourth quarter.

 

Adrian went ahead 10-8, but Julia Gorski buried a goal in transition for the Belles to give Saint Mary's a big spark. Cate Krema then buried a free position goal with 7:00 to play in the period to knot things up at 10-10. The Bulldogs took a late lead with a goal with 2:57 remaining, but Kathryn Kalinowski snuck a shot past the goalie with 15 seconds on the scoreboard to tie it up at 11-11 and send the Belles to their second overtime game of the week.

 

Emma Zmudzinski made a huge save in the closing seconds of the opening portion of the first overtime, and the junior goalie came up with a second massive save in the opening seconds of the second overtime period. The Belles had appeared to have gotten the game-winning goal from Julia Gorski only to have a rule review overturn the goal. The Bulldogs then used a free position chance 1:17 seconds into the second overtime to net the deciding goal in a 12-11 final.

 

Alyssa Grant posted three goals, two assists, two ground balls, and a draw control for the Belles. Christiana Singler added two goals, an assist, five draw controls, three caused turnovers, and two ground balls. Cate Krema had two goals, an assist, two ground balls, and a caused turnover. Lana Skibins tallied two goals, an assist, and two caused turnovers. Kathryn Kalinowski posted a goal, five ground balls, four caused turnovers, and two draw controls. Julia Gorski notched a goal, and Valentina Rubio collected three ground balls and three draw controls. Kelsey King chipped in three ground balls for the Belles. Emma Zmudzinski had 10 saves in goal with a pair of ground balls.

 

The Belles (1-9, 0-3 MIAA) travel to Trine on Tuesday, April 16 for a 7:00 p.m. conference game.