NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team dug in and battled their way to a 13-10 win against Calvin in a hard-fought contest between the two sides on Wednesday evening at the Purcell Athletic Fields.

 

Saint Mary's took a quick lead with an Erin Doyle free position goal just 36 seconds into play, and Shannon McCloskey buried a shot off a pass from Kathleen Soller at 23:32 for a 2-0 avantage. The Knights posted a pair of quick goals to knot things up at 2-2, but Doyle and McCloskey put the next two goals on the scoreboard for the Belles to make it 4-2. A minute later, Calvin capitalized on a turnover by Saint Mary's as the score moved to 4-3. Emily Kraker came up with a pair of saves to fend off the Knights' attempt at tying the game a second time, and Katie Haas scored in transition for a 5-3 edge. Almost three minutes later, Julia Gorski found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career to put the Belles ahead 6-3 with under six minutes remaining in the half. After a Calvin goal made it a 6-4 score, Katie Haas buried her second goal in transition after another Kraker save for a 7-4 advantage with 2:19 on the clock. Emily Kraker added a save on a free position shot late in the half as the Belles held the three-goal lead at the break.

 

The Knights struck first in the second stanza, and the two sides traded goals back-and-forth over the opening ten minutes of the half with Doyle and Haas contributing to their respective point totals as Saint Mary's led 10-7. Calvin tried to build some momentum with back-to-back goals in the span of less than two minutes, but the Belles countered with their own back-to-back goals in 1:03 by Gabby Belsito and Doyle for a 12-9 lead. Both goalies came up with big saves to keep the game at a three-goal margin. One such save saw Emily Kraker made a point-blank stop from a shot just outside the goal circle with 10:48 to play. Erin Dotson then gave Saint Mary's the biggest lead of the game with a free position goal at 4:27. Calvin was able to cut the deficit back down to three with a 2:42 goal, but Kraker made a save with just over a minute to play and added two more saves in the final minute as the Belles prevailed 13-10.

 

The Belles never trailed in the first home game for the team since the 2019 season. Saint Mary's held a 14-11 edge in draw controls and a narrow 28-27 advantage over Calvin in ground balls. The Knights out-shot the Belles 34-33 in the contest.

 

Emily Kraker made a school-record 18 saves in goal, including 10 in the second half, to stymie the Calvin offense's comeback efforts. The senior stopped all five free position shot attempts by the Knights.

 

Erin Doyle led the Belles with five goals while adding an assist. The senior posted career-highs of 10 ground balls and seven caused turnovers to lead all players in both categories. Katie Haas netted a hat trick while causing three turnovers and picking up a pair of ground balls. Shannon McCloskey posted two goals. Julia Gorski scored the first goal of her collegiate career. Erin Dotson and Gabby Belsito each tallied a goal of their own. Kathleen Soller picked up two assists in the win. Molly Mullett had a game-high eight draw controls.

 

The Belles (2-1) continue a four-game home stint on Saturday when they host Trine at 1:00 p.m.