HOLLAND, Mich. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team saw their season come to a close in a 21-6 setback against league champion Hope on Saturday afternoon.

 

Hope struck quickly with a pair of goals in the opening minute to snag a 2-0 advantage. Emma Zmudzinski had a save on the next shot on goal, Christiana Singler caused a turnover on the prolonged Flying Dutch possession after the save, and Marina De Castro Vasconcelos came away with the ground ball. The Belles had a good look to get into the scoring column half a minute later as Alyssa Grant's shot on goal was saved. The Flying Dutch, meanwhile, used a free position chance to extend their lead three minutes into play. Zmudzinski posted another save with under ten minutes on the clock, but Hope kept possession and made it count with a goal with 8:57 on the clock. Another Hope goal made it a 5-0 game with just over six minutes to play in the opening period. The Belles responded with an extended possession of their own as Kathryn Kalinowski buried a free position goal with more than five minutes remaining in the first. The Flying Dutch countered with a goal a minute later, but Saint Mary's continued to battle. Grant had another chance blocked at one end before Zmudzinski registered another save on the defensive end. A late re-defend by Valentina Rubio led to a caused turnover and ground ball for the junior before Rubio buried her 20th goal of the season to make it a 6-2 game through 15 minutes of play.

 

The Flying Dutch posted the opening two goals of the second period for an 8-2 advantage. Christiana Singler registered her second caused turnover of the half while Kathryn Kalinowski came away with the ground ball on the play. Singler had a shot tail high before burying a free position chance with more than ten minutes left on the clock to make it a five-goal difference. Hope posted two goals in quick succession to extend their advantage to 10-3. Emma Zmudzinski registered another save, and Marina De Castro Vasconcelos had a caused turnover a minute later. Lana Skibins then found Kathryn Kalinowski at the other end with a pass as Kalinowski put away a goal with 5:40 on the clock. The Flying Dutch, however, used five unanswered goals over the remainder of the period to take a 15-4 lead at the half.

 

The defense locked down early and forced Hope into a possession clock violation in the third quarter. Cate Krema had a shot bounce off the post, and Valentina Rubio had an attempt blocked 30 seconds later. Emma Zmudzinski posted another save at the other end, and the Belles pushed the ball ahead to the offensive end. Valentina Rubio then threaded the needle to Reese Bauer in the critical scoring area as the senior put the first goal of the period on the scoreboard. The defense made two more stops at the other end while working to stop the running clock. The Flying Dutch used a stop of their own and scored in transition the other way and added another quick goal after winning the draw to gain a 17-5 lead. Rubio had a shot saved, Zmudzinski added a save of her own, and Sophia Delgado forced a late turnover in the quarter as the game moved to the final period.

 

Hope opened the fourth quarter with a goal in the first minute of the period and added two more goals over the next six minutes to make it 20-5. Saint Mary's continued to battle down the stretch as Christiana Singler used another strong re-defend to cause a turnover and capped off the offensive chance with a goal off of a feed from Reese Bauer with under six minutes remaining. Hope responded with a goal the other way two minutes later for the 21-6 final score.

 

Kathryn Kalinowski had two goals on two shots and added a team-best five ground balls. Christiana Singler posted two goals with three caused turnovers, a draw control, and a ground ball. Valentina Rubio added a goal, an assist, two ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Reese Bauer tallied a goal and an assist, and Lana Skibins registered an assist. Kelsey King had three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Alyssa Grant, Sophia Delgado, and Marina De Castro Vasconcelos each collected two ground balls and a caused turnover. Emma Zmudzinski posted nine saves in goal with a pair of ground balls for the Belles.

 

Saint Mary's concludes the season 1-13 overall.