NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team broke a 2-2 tie with five consecutive goals and never looked back in a 21-10 win over Carthage at home on Wednesday evening.

 

The visiting Lady Reds struck quickly with a goal in the opening 36 seconds of action. Erin Doyle caused a turnover on a clear attempt by the Lady Reds and turned that chance into offense with a goal in transition to make it 1-1. Emily Kraker made a strong save on the next Carthage possession, and Erin Doyle put the Belles ahead with a goal a minute after the save. Carthage responded with a player-up goal with 25:37 on the clock as the two sides battled to build momentum. Less than two minutes later, Molly Stout started what proved to be a tone-setting run by the Belles with a goal. Doyle added a free position goal 26 seconds later, and Molly Stout earned an assist on a Kate Kelly goal to push the lead to 5-2 with 21:52 on the clock.

 

Bridget Kane scored off of a pass from Erin Doyle less than two minutes later, and Kane registered an assist on a Molly Stout goal for a 7-2 Saint Mary's advantage. Carthage got a goal back with 16:29 on the clock, but Kate Kelly posted back-to-back goals before another Erin Doyle strike ballooned the lead to 10-3 with 11:44 remaining in the period.

 

The Lady Reds posted two quick consecutive goals, but the Belles closed out the half on a 5-0 scoring spurt to implement the running clock. Kelly chipped in two more goals, Doyle sent one home, and Kendra Osinski and Raigan Althouse each found the back of the net once as the Belles took a 15-5 lead into the halftime break.

 

Carthage put two quick goals on the scoreboard to stop the running clock early in the second half. Saint Mary's, however, responded with four consecutive goals for a 19-7 lead as the Belles maintained at least a double-digit advantage over the remainder of the contest.

 

Saint Mary's held a 41-27 advantage over Carthage in ground balls and did not concede a single free position shot to the Lady Reds over the duration of the contest.

 

Erin Doyle led the Belles with seven goals while adding two assists. Kate Kelly chipped in a season-high six goals along with two assists, five draw controls, four caused turnovers, and nine ground balls. Rachael Leonard posted a program-record 11 ground balls to go along with two assists and three caused turnovers. Kendra Osinski, Molly Stout, and Bridget Kane each tallied two goals and an assist, and Raigan Althouse scored two goals. Emily Kraker made six saves in goal for the Belles.

 

The Belles (4-4) open up conference play on Saturday when they travel to Alma for a 1:00 p.m. match against the Scots.