KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team rallied back from a four-goal deficit and took a one-goal 14-13 win at Kalamazoo on Wednesday night.

 

The re-defend was key from start to finish for the Belles. Lindsey Herdsman picked up a ground ball on a failed clear attempt, and Molly Mullett put away a free position goal less than four minutes into the game. Kalamazoo scored in transition with under six minutes to go on the clock before the Belles turned defense into offense with a Zmuzinski save followed by Mullett feeding an assist to Dotson in transition for a 2-1 lead. The Hornets countered with a goal shortly after the next draw. Kalamazoo took some momentum into the second quarter by scoring a goal in the final seconds of the opening period for a 3-2 lead through 15 minutes of play.

 

The Hornets added another goal early in the second stanza, but Saint Mary's again used a strong defensive effort to fuel the offense with Alyssa Grant finding a goal with 13:10 on the clock. Kalamazoo used a pair of quick goals for a 6-3 lead before taking a 7-3 advantage with 5:12 on the clock in the second quarter. The re-defend forced the Hornets into a turnover deep in the Belles' offensive end, Christiana Singler came away with a ground ball, and Julia Gorski fed a pass to Erin Dotson for a goal with 4:24 remaining. Singler added a free position goal less than a minute later, and the Belles continued to gain momentum with a behind-the-back goal by Dotson with 2:56 to go before halftime. Emma Zmudzinski came up with a key save, and Erin Dotson knotted the game with a quick ball pickup and goal the other way to make it 7-7 at the half.

 

Zmudzinski added another save - this time on a free position shot - and the transition scoring struck again with Dotson finding the back of the net off of a pass from Reese Bauer. The Belles made it six goals in-a-row to go up 9-7 as Christiana Singler found the back of the net after a feed from Valentina Rubio. Zmudzinski tacked on two more saves, but the Hornets were able to tally back-to-back goals to tie the game at 9-9 with 5:58 to go in the third. Dotson came away with the ensuing draw control, and the senior found Valentina Rubio in space as Rubio regained the lead for Saint Mary's just 45 seconds later. Another re-defend turned into offense as a failed clear attempt yielded a Molly Mullett ground ball and goal for an 11-9 lead. Kalamazoo registered a free position goal in the final minute of the quarter to cut it to a one-goal difference heading into the final period.

 

Saint Mary's struck quickly in the fourth with Dotson putting away yet another goal for a 12-10 advantage. Alyssa Grant then had a well-placed shot sneak over the Kalamazoo goalie's shoulder and in the far netting on a free position chance for a 13-10 lead with 12 minutes still to play. The Hornets knotted the game at 13-13 with a three-goal spurt in the span of 2:37 of play from 8:20 to 5:47. Erin Doston came away with the next draw control, and the Belles defense locked down on Kalamazoo. Saint Mary's successfully killed off a yellow card on the defensive end while the Hornets committed a pair of turnovers as the clock moved below the three-minute mark. Back to full-strength, the Belles regained the lead on Dotson's seventh goal of the game with Molly Mullett tacking on the assist for a 14-13 advantage. Valentina Rubio won the ensuing draw control, her re-defend pressure saw the Hornets turn the ball over with under 40 seconds to play, and the Belles ran out the clock for the one-goal win on the road.

 

Erin Dotson tied her career-high mark with seven goals while adding an assist, five ground balls, five draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Molly Mullett added two goals, three assists, four draw controls, four caused turnovers, and two ground balls. Alyssa Grant posted two goals, a ground ball, and a caused turnover. Christiana Singler tallied two goals and two ground balls. Valentina Rubio registered a goal, two assists, four draw controls, three ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Reese Bauer and Julia Gorski each recorded an assist and three ground balls. Lindsey Herdsman picked up four ground balls, and Paige Lyons and Kate King each added two ground balls. Emma Zmudzinski made seven saves in goal with a ground ball in the win.

 

The Belles (9-5, 3-1 MIAA) travel to Adrian for an 11:00 a.m. conference game on Saturday.