ANGOLA, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team out-scored Trine 13-7 in the second half to take a 20-12 win over the Thunder in conference play on Saturday evening.

 

Erin Dotson opened up the scoring with a goal 2:03 into play, but the Thunder responded with back-to-back goals for a 2-1 lead with 17:37 left on the clock in the first period. Dotson was not going to be denied as the sophomore scored a pair of goals in the span of 34 seconds to put the Belles ahead 3-2. Bridget Kane added a goal two minutes later, Emily Kraker made a big save on a free position shot, and Molly Mullett buried a free position shot of her own to make it a 5-2 Saint Mary's lead with 10:45 remaining in the opening half. The Thunder got a goal back three minutes later, but Haas found the back of the net for a second time to make it a 6-3 score. Trine made a push late in the half to cut the deficit to a goal at 6-5 with 1:23 on the clock. Molly Mullett, however, came away with the ensuing draw attempt and cut right through the Trine defense before burying a goal with 1:09 left in the period as the Belles took a 7-5 lead at the half.

 

Saint Mary's came out of the break and scored three goals - a quick goal by Gabby Belsito, one by Dotson, and one by Katie Haas - as the Belles extended the lead to 10-5 less than seven minutes into the period. The Thunder countered with a pair of goals in the span of 1:02, but the Belles were too steady on both ends of the field over the next nine minutes. Saint Mary's posted six consecutive goals to build a 16-7 lead with 8:10 remaining. Erin Doyle scored twice, Haas added two more goals, and Dotson and Kane each chipped in a goal as the Belles took control of the game. The two sides traded goals back-and-forth before Trine put three goals on the scoreboard to make it 18-12 with 2:03 to play, but Bridget Kane and Erin Doyle capped off the highest-scoring game of the season for Saint Mary's with a goal each for the 20-12 victory.

 

Erin Dotson led all players with a career-high six goals while tallying four ground balls. Erin Doyle added four goals and an assist. Doyle picked up six ground balls to lead the Belles. Katie Haas registered four goals and Bridget Kane tallied three. Molly Mullett had two goals, an assist, five ground balls, and a team-high eight draw controls. Gabby Belsito chipped in a goal and an assist with three ground balls while Shannon McCloskey had an assist. Liv Heppeler collected four ground balls, and Emily Kraker made 14 saves in the win in goal.

 

The Belles (7-4, 3-1 MIAA) have a week before their next contest as they travel to Kalamazoo on Saturday, April 10 for a 4:00 p.m. conference game against the Hornets.