NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Trailing for much of the second half, the Saint Mary's lacrosse team outscored visiting Albion by a 6-2 margin over the final 15 minutes of play to capture a 15-14 win in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal round on Wednesday evening.

 

The Brits struck first with a free position goal in the opening minute of play. Both goalies tallied a save before Katie Haas scored the Belles' first goal of the game off a pass from Erin Doyle. In what would be a preview of the remainder of the game, the two sides battled for an edge either way over much of the opening 15 minutes of action. A strong re-defend by the Belles led to a caused turnover by Shannon McCloskey, and Bridget Kane scored less than 20 seconds later for a 2-1 lead for the Belles. Kane buried a free position goal a little over two minutes later, and the junior capped off a hat trick with a goal at the 11:14 mark off a pass from Shannon McCloskey. Another strong defensive play - this time a caused turnover by Sarah Frick - led to a goal by Gabby Belsito, and Erin Doyle added a player-down goal two minutes later to give the Belles a 6-1 lead with 7:17 remaining in the opening half.

 

The visiting Brits, however, went on a 3-0 scoring spurt over the next two-and-a-half minutes to make it a 6-4 game and gain the momentum late in the period. Erin Doyle broke up the scoring run with a goal at 4:27, but Albion closed out the final 3:36 of the half with three goals to knot the game 7-7 going into the halftime break.

 

Albion carried that momentum over into the second half as the Brits took their first lead since 1-0 with a goal four minutes into the period. Another goal by the guests made it a 9-7 game with 22:26 on the clock. Bridget Kane buried a shot off of a pass from Shannon McCloskey as the Belles edged within a goal, but Albion had a near-immediate response with a goal ten seconds later to regain the multi-goal lead.

 

Emily Kraker came up with a big save on a free position opportunity, and the senior made another stop a minute later before the defense combined to block a shot as the Belles kept within striking distance midway through the period. Shannon McCloskey then found the back of the net on a free position effort with 16:41 remaining to make it a 10-9 game. The Brits responded with back-to-back goals for a 12-9 advantage, but McCloskey struck again to cut the deficit to two. Kraker added another stop on a free position attempt, and Kane scored a well-placed free position shot nearly three minutes later to pull the Belles within one. Albion came away with the ensuing draw control and scored for a 13-11 lead. The re-defend for the Belles came up big again as Saint Mary's forced Albion into a failed clear attempt, and a give-and-go passing combination between Katie Haas and Erin Doyle yielded a goal for Doyle with 9:26 to play.

 

The Belles dialed up the defense yet again, and Saint Mary's kept the Brits off the scoreboard before Katie Haas scored in transition off of a feed from Kane to knot the game at 13-13. The Belles then capitalized on an Albion yellow card with a player-up goal by Haas to take their first lead since the first half at 14-13 with 6:07 on the clock. An Albion shot on their next possession rattled off the post, and Kraker made a save a short while later to preserve the lead. Gabby Belsito then scored in transition for the Belles to put Saint Mary's up 15-13 with just under four minutes remaining.

 

Both sides came up with strong defensive plays with each side causing turnovers in a tight final four minutes of the game. Kraker stuffed another free position shot by Albion, but the Brits broke through with a free position goal with 1:27 remaining to make it a 15-14 score. Albion won the ensuing draw control, but Kraker came up with a huge save with just under a minute to play. The Belles successfully cleared the ball into their offensive end and ran out the clock for the 15-14 victory.

 

The win sends the Belles to their second MIAA Tournament Final appearance in program history.

 

Bridget Kane scored a team-best and career-high five goals while registering three assists with two ground balls. The junior surpassed the 100 career-point plateau in the win, becoming the seventh player in program history to reach 100 points in a career. Katie Haas added three goals, an assist, and three draw controls. Erin Doyle tallied three goals, an assist, and two caused turnovers. Shannon McCloskey had a career-high three assists to go along with two goals and four ground balls. Gabby Belsito posted two goals, and Erin Dotson added an assist, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Emily Kraker made nine saves in goal - including two in the final two minutes - to help secure the win.

 

The Belles (12-4) will now host Hope on Saturday, May 1 at 1:00 p.m. for the MIAA Championship.