WHITTIER, Calif. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team shouldered a 21-8 setback against Whittier in the team's first of three games in the Golden State.

 

The host Poets tallied a quick goal to open the game, but the Belles came right back with a goal moments later as Molly Mullett and Erin Dotson connected on the offensive end with Dotson burying her first goal of the contest. Emma Zmudzinski made back-to-back saves to keep Whittier off the scoreboard on the next possession before Dotson's shot on goal was also saved in the opening few minutes of play. The Poets broke the scoreless stretch with a goal and added five consecutive goals in quick succession to establish a 7-1 lead. A redefend, caused turnover, and goal by Reese Bauer midway through the quarter got Saint Mary's back on the scoreboard to make it a 7-2 game. Molly Mullett added a response goal after another Whittier score with a free position effort as the Belles kept close in the opening period. The Poets, however, closed out the first quarter with three goals to hold an 11-3 lead through the first period of play.

 

The two sides battled through a back-and-forth stretch of play to begin the second quarter. Valentina Rubio had an early shot saved, and Emma Zmudzinski three saves over the first six minutes of the period. Rubio then saw a shot hit off the crossbar as the Belles looked to build momentum. The home side recorded the first goal of the quarter 8:24 into the stanza. The Poets pushed their lead to 13-3 with two minutes to go in the half, but Christina Singler quickly stopped the running clock with a goal with under a minute to go as the score stood at 13-4 through 30 minutes of play.

 

The Belles continued to battle in the second half of action. Whittier again pushed their lead to double digits, and Saint Mary's struck right back with another goal by Dotson as Paige Lyons garnered an assist. The Poets countered with three goals in-a-row for a 17-5 advantage. Lyons and Dotson teamed up again late in the quarter as Dotson buried her third goal of the game to make it a 17-6 score going into the final stanza.  

 

The two sides traded goals back-and-forth over the opening eight minutes of the fourth quarter. Reese Bauer put away a goal off of a feed from Alyssa Grant, and Erin Dotson scored her fourth goal with Bauer tallying an assist to push the score to 19-8 with just over seven minutes to play. The Poets put two more goals on the scoreboard over the final five-plus minutes of competition to take the 21-8 decision.

 

Erin Dotson led the Belles with four goals and added two ground balls. Reese Bauer posted two goals, an assist, and a caused turnover. Molly Mullett put up a goal, an assist, four draw controls, and a ground ball. Christiana Singler added a goal for Saint Mary's. Alyssa Grant chipped in an assist and four draw controls with a ground ball, and Paige Lyons had two assists. Valentina Rubio paced the Belles with five draw controls and shared team-high honors with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Lindsey Herdsman collected three ground balls and a caused turnover of her own. Emma Zmudzinski posted seven saves over the first half of play, and Mila Swiacki made four saves over the second half of action.

 

The Belles (2-2) are back on the field on Tuesday when they face Cal Lutheran at 7:00 p.m. PDT (10:00 p.m. EDT).