ALMA, Mich. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team built a 4-0 lead through the first 3:12 of play on their way to a 22-1 win over Alma in the Belles' conference opener on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Belles opened the scoring when Kate Kelly found Shannon McCloskey cutting up the middle of the critical scoring area. McCloskey buried her first shot of the game for the quick 1-0 advantage. Raigan Althouse then connected with Erin Doyle a little over a minute later as Doyle sent home her first goal of the game. Doyle picked up an assist on a goal by Kendra Osinski, and Kate Kelly added her second assist of the game on a goal by Althouse.

 

The Belles posted a pair of goals within two minutes of one another with Kelly and Osinski notching goals at 22:24 and 20:34 for a 6-0 lead. Doyle struck again as Saint Mary's went ahead 7-0 midway through the half. Two quick goals in the span of less than a minute - one by Bridget Kane and one by Kelly - made it a 9-0 game, and Doyle buried another shot to implement the running clock with just under six minutes to go in the opening period. The Belles found the back of the net three more times over the remainder of the half as Doyle, Kelly, and Liv Heppeler each added to the score for a 13-0 lead at the break.

 

Alma got on the scoreboard less than seven minutes into the second half, but the Belles saw five different players combine to score nine goals as Saint Mary's prevailed 22-1.

 

The Belles out-shot Alma 49-3 and had a 35-15 edge in ground balls. Saint Mary's had a season-low 10 turnovers while the Scots had 30 turnovers in the contest.

 

Erin Doyle led all players with seven goals as the sophomore tied for game-high honors with six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Kate Kelly had five goals, four assists, five draw controls, four ground balls, and three caused turnovers. Bridget Kane registered her first career hat trick with three goals as she also had six ground balls, two caused turnovers, and a game-high eight draw controls. Kendra Osinski (two goals, two assists), Raigan Althouse (two goals, one assist), and Shannon McCloskey (two goals) each registered multiple points, and Liv Heppeler scored on her lone shot of the day. Osinski chipped in five ground balls, and Althouse caused two turnovers. Emily Kraker tallied two saves for Saint Mary's.