Belles Tame Wildcats
McMINNVILLE, Ore. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team earned their first win of the 2015 season with a 16-6 win at Linfield on Wednesday night.
The Belles lacrosse team poses for a photo
after their win at Linfield.
(photo courtesy of Liz Palmer)Withstanding some early pressure and coming up with some solid stops, the Belles shifted the momentum against the Wildcats 11 minutes into the game. Shannon Weyer and the Belles defense kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard, and the Saint Mary's midfield and attack took over. A barage of shots made it feel as though it was only a matter of time before the Belles would break through.
That was, in fact, the case. Abby Krauss opened the scoring with her first collegiate goal in the 16th minute of play. Less than thirty seconds later, Emilie Vanneste made it 2-0 in favor of the Belles. Aubrey Golembieski scored her first goal of the game with 11:23 to go as the Belles' confidence grew with each possession.
Vanneste added back-to-back goals, Krauss picked up another goal with Hanna Makowski getting the assist, and Golembieski capped off a 7-0 scoring spurt for the Belles.
Two goals by the Wildcats book-ended two more goals by Golembieski with the score being 9-2 in favor of Saint Mary's with less than a minute to go before halftime. The Belles were not quite done in the opening 30 minutes of play. Golembieski fed a pass to Maria Roberts, who scored her first collegiate goal with 35 seconds left on the clock to make it a 10-2 game at the break.
The 10-2 first half score matched both the most goals in a half and fewest goals allowed in a half in the young history of the lacrosse program. Last year's team had the same 10-2 first half production in a win against Illinois Tech. The 29 shots, meanwhile, marks the most in a single half by the team in the program's short history.
Hanna Makwoski picked up right where Roberts left off as the freshman tallied her first collegiate goal a minute and a half into the second period. Clare Theisen picked up the assist on Makwoski's goal for the Belles. Golembieski struck yet again, and Mary Grace Heller added her name to the list of Belles with their first collegiate goal 11 minutes into the half to make it a 13-2 game.
Vanneste added two more goals while Golembieski chipped in one more goal to give the Belles 16 goals. That total goal output matches last year's single game high of 16 goals in the team's win against Illinois Tech.
Aubrey Golembieski set a new game-high scoring mark for the program with six goals and an assist. The six goals is the most by an individual in the two-year history of the program. Emilie Vanneste scored a career-best five goals, and Abby Krauss netted the first two goals of her collegiate career.
Mary Grace Heller, Hanna Makowski, Maria Roberts each scored a goal - the first of each of their collegiate careers. Makwoski also had a pair of assists, and Clare Theisen and Tess Guerrero each added an assist as well. Gabriela Bravo tallied her first collegiate point with an assist.
Shannon Weyer made seven saves while earning her first win in goal.
The Belles (1-2) are scheduled to host Defiance on Thursday, March 19 starting at 5:00 p.m. at the Saint Mary's lacrosse field.