NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team built a big lead early and never looked back as the Belles defeated visiting Alma 26-5 in the first round of the MIAA Tournament on Saturday.

 

The Belles struck quickly with Bridget Kane scoring off a pass from Erin Doyle just 52 seconds into the game. Erin Dotson added a goal less than a minute later off another assist by Doyle. Gabby Belsito and Doyle scored within 14 seconds of one another. Dotson, Doyle, and Belsito continued to find the back of the net as Saint Mary's built a 10-0 lead with 20:31 on the clock. Katie Haas, Bridget Kane, Julia Gorski, and Dotson each chipped in a goal over the next six-plus minutes of action as the Belles made it a 14-0 advantage.

 

Alma broke through with a goal just under the ten-minute mark, and the Scots struck again three minutes later as the score moved to 15-2, but the Belles posted back-to-back goals to close out the half and take a 17-2 lead at the break.

 

Saint Mary's out-scored Alma by a 9-3 margin in the second half to take the 26-5 win over the Scots and advance to the MIAA Tournament Semifinal round. The 26-goal performance ties the program record for the most goals in a game while setting an MIAA record for the most goals scored in a tournament game. Collectively, the Belles set new MIAA records for assists in an MIAA Tournament contest with 12 and points in an MIAA Tournament game with 38.

 

Erin Doyle led all players with 10 goals and added a career-high and school-record six assists for a school-record 16 points. The senior's totals of goals, assists, and points also set new MIAA Tournament records in each statistical category. Doyle added three ground balls and a draw control. Erin Dotson and Bridget Kane both scored four goals and tallied two assists. Kane collected three ground balls and two draw controls, and Dotson added four draw controls and two ground balls. Gabby Belsito netted a hat trick with three goals and added an assist. Katie Haas chipped in two goals, an assist, and three draw controls. Molly Mullett had a game-high 10 draw controls and scored a goal. Shannon McCloskey and Julia Gorski each added a goal as eight different players scored for the Belles. Emily Kraker posted three saves in the first half, and Alexis Fady tallied four saves over the final 30 minutes of play.

 

The Belles (11-4) will host Albion in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal round on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m.