HOLLAND, Mich. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team saw their season come to a close in a hard-fought 18-13 setback against top-seeded Hope in the MIAA Tournament Final on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Flying Dutch took a 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Belles dug their heels in deep and fought their way right back into the contest. The defense shut down a scoring chance with a blocked shot before their pressure led to a pair of turnovers by the Flying Dutch. After one such turnover, Alyssa Grant threaded a pass to Erin Dotson, and the senior co-captain put the Belles on the scoreboard. Molly Mullett then won the next draw control, and Valentina Rubio buried a shot 28 seconds later to make it a 4-2 game. Hope got a goal back a minute later, but Mullett put away a free position chance with just over four minutes to go in the opening period to pull Saint Mary's back within two at 5-3. The Flying Dutch countered with a pair of quick goals with under two minutes remaining. That was still plenty of time for the Belles to return the favor with two late goals. Erin Dotson sent home a free position goal with 39 seconds on the clock, and Alyssa Grant put away a shot off of a pass from Rubio with nine seconds left in the quarter to make it a 7-5 game through 15 minutes of play.

 

Molly Mullett opened the second period with a goal to cut the deficit to one. Hope put the next goal on the scoreboard 30 seconds later, but the Belles responded yet again with an Erin Dotson free position goal to edge Saint Mary's within one at 8-7. Two quick goals in succession by the Flying Dutch pushed the Hope lead to 10-7 with eight minutes still to go in the quarter, and a goal with just over two minutes left on the clock made it an 11-7 score. Julia Gorski had a strong shot in transition saved, and Hope added a goal in the final 30 seconds of quarter to take a 12-7 lead at halftime.

 

Emma Zmudzinski opened the third quarter with a pair of saves, and the Belles used a transition chance to get back on the scoreboard as Valentina Rubio tallied a goal. Hope regained some momentum with three goals to extend their advantage to 15-8, but again, the Belles dug deep and continued to work their way back into the mix. Zmudzinski collected another save, and an extended possession less than a minute later led to a Molly Mullett goal with seven minutes still to go in the quarter. Another save by Zmudzinski at the defensive end a minute later resulted in an Alyssa Grant free position goal at the other end to make it 15-10. Both sides saw their defense lock down over the final five minutes of the quarter as the game moved to the final period of play.

 

Kate King collected a ground ball and pushed the ball up quickly early in the fourth quarter, and Valentina Rubio snuck her shot past the Hope goalie to make it a four-goal difference. Three minutes later, Christina Singler converted a free position chance with 8:56 on the clock to make it a 15-12 game. The Flying Dutch, however, broke up the Belles' scoring run with two goals over the next three minutes of action. Saint Mary's again used a save by Zmudzinski to turn defense into offense as Erin Dotson scored with 3:25 on the clock to pull the Belles within four at 17-13. A Flying Dutch goal with 2:13 to play pushed the difference back to five, and the Saint Mary's comeback attempt ran out of time in the 18-13 final.

 

Erin Dotson led the Belles with four goals and eight draw controls to go along with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Valentina Rubio posted three goals, an assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Molly Mullett tallied three goals, seven draw controls, five ground balls, and five caused turnovers. Alyssa Grant had two goals and an assist, and Christiana Singler recorded a goal for the Belles. Kate King picked up four ground balls and caused two turnovers, and Lindsey Herdsman had two ground balls and a caused turnover. Emma Zmudzinski posted nine saves in goal for the Belles.

 

Saint Mary's finished the season with a 12-7 overall record.