NOTRE DAME, Ind. - A big second quarter for visiting Lake Forest shifted the momentum in a tight game as the Saint Mary's lacrosse team fell 24-9 to the Foresters on Saturday afternoon.

 

The first quarter was a closely played, back-and-forth battle. A strong re-defend by the Belles led to a caused turnover and ground ball by Reese Bauer before the senior connected with Kathryn Kalinowski as the freshman buried the game's first goal five minutes into play. The Foresters posted three goals over the next four-plus minutes of action as both sides had chances. Emma Zmudzinski posted a save with four minutes on the clock, and the Belles capitalized at the other end with Alyssa Grant redirecting the ball into the goal off of a feed by Kalinowski to make it a 3-2 game with 3:10 on the clock. Lake Forest tallied a goal with 1:45 remaining, but the Belles took advantage of a player-up chance moments later as Kalinowski put away a free position goal with 1:08 to go in the period to make it a 4-3 game. 

 

Lake Forest struck quickly and added another goal in the opening two minutes of play to gain a 6-3 advantage in the second period. Saint Mary's kept a possession alive a minute later, and Christiana Singler sent home a goal off of a feed from below the goal line from Reese Bauer to put the Belles within two at 6-4. Despite getting three shots on goal over the next six minutes of play, Saint Mary's was unable to convert any of those three chances. The Foresters tallied five goals over that same span of time to go up 11-4. Alyssa Grant got the Belles back in the scoring column with a free position goal with 2:52 on the clock, and Julia Gorski snuck a shot through the Lake Forest goalie's legs for a goal with just under two minutes to go before halftime. A quick flurry of three goals by the Foresters, however, gave the visiting side a 14-6 lead at the break.

 

Saint Mary's responded to an early goal by Lake Forest as Christiana Singler converted a free position chance less than three minutes into the third quarter. A stretch of back-and-forth play saw each goalie tally a save before Lake Forest notched two goals with 9:13 on the clock. The Belles battled to close the gap and stop the running clock, and that effort saw Kathryn Kalinowski put away a goal off of a pass from Rachel Speckhard with five minutes to go in the quarter. Saint Mary's continued to compete hard, and Alyssa Grant sent home a free position goal with under four minutes to go in the quarter to make it a 17-9 score. Lake Forest tallied a late goal in the third and posted three quick goals early in the fourth to gain more than a ten-goal advantage in the period. The Foresters went on to add three additional goals in the quarter for the final 24-9 score.

 

Kathryn Kalinowski registered her first collegiate hat trick with three goals while adding an assist, three ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Alyssa Grant added a hat trick of her own with a pair of draw controls and a ground ball. Christiana Singler posted two goals and three graw controls. Reese Bauer tallied two assists and two caused turnovers with three ground balls. Julia Gorski notched a goal and a pair of ground balls, and Rachel Speckhard posted an assist. Valentina Rubio had a team-best four draw controls, and Kelsey King posted a game-high and season-best six ground balls. Emma Zmudzinski posted a season-high 11 saves.

 

The Belles (1-6) are back in action on Wednesday, April 3 when they host Aurora at 5:00 p.m.