Belles Take Down Scots

Box Score

• Hanna Makowski led all players with a career-high five goals on just six shots.
• Emilie Vanneste chipped in three goals and an assist.
• Lauren Telford recorded three assists.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team opened up the game with the first five goals and never trailed in a 12-8 conference win over Alma.

On the team-declared "Freedom Friday", the leader of the weekly display of patriotism - Hanna Makowski - put the Belles on the scoreboard with a free position goal just 1:24 into play. That goal opened the gates for the Saint Mary's offense early and often. Emilie Vanneste tallied her 23rd goal of the year just a minute and 21 seconds later. Lauren Telford fed a pass into Vanneste, and the junior captain made it 3-0 with 22:29 on the clock. Molly Stout then fired home a rocket shot from the left side of the critical scoring area for the 4-0 Saint Mary's advantage with 20:46 still to play in the opening period. Two and a half minutes later, it was Clare Theisen's turn to send a shot into the back of the net to extend the lead to 5-0 with 18:07 on the clock.

The Scots fired off three quick goals in succession to make it 5-3 less than four minutes later, but the Belles came up with a response to stop the Alma spurt. Kate Kelly won the draw, and Vanneste found Makowski with a pass to lead to the sophomore's second goal of the game just 38 seconds later.

Each time the Scots got within two of the Belles' lead, Saint Mary's kept composed on both ends and found a way to answer the Alma threat. Molly Stout picked up her second goal of the game on a free position shot for a 7-4 lead. Alma made it 7-5 with 5:06 on the clock, but Makowski capped off the first-half hat trick after Lauren Telford started the play with a pass for the assist with 18 seconds remaining to give the Belles the momentum heading into the half.

An early save by Cara Givens paired with strong, patient defense by the Belles limited the Scots to just one shot on goal over the opening ten minutes of the second half. After another save by Givens, this time on a free position shot, the Belles were able to successfully switch ends of the field and score with Makowski rocketing home her fourth goal of the game with 18:46 on the clock.

The Scots broke through with a goal with 13:19 remaining to make it 10-6 before cutting the deficit to three goals with 8:12 to go. Makowski helped to make sure the momentum did not continue to build for Alma. Rachael Leonard cleanly won the next draw control and had a perfect leading pass to Makowski along the left side of the critical scoring area. The sophomore made the pass count and registered her fifth goal to extend the lead to 11-7 with 8:01 remaining.

Alma took the next draw control and used a free position shot to make it a three-goal game with just over seven minutes to go in the second period. The defense made it difficult on the Scots' attempt to come back late. Strong team defending paired with a save by Cara Givens led to the Belles getting the ball back with under five minutes to go. Patience on offense helped the Belles work through the Alma defense, and Emilie Vanneste found an open lane and scored an insurance goal for the 12-8 lead with 3:15 on the clock.

Lauren Telford nearly had an additional cushion goal on transition with a minute left on the clock, but the junior's shot went less than a yard over the top of the goal. Givens posted on more big save on a shot with under ten seconds left in regulation to cap off the 12-8 win.

Hanna Makowski led all players with a career-high five goals on just six shots. Emilie Vanneste chipped in three goals and an assist. Clare Theisen added two goals and an assist, and Molly Stout tallied two goals. Lauren Telford recorded three assists, and Kate Kelly picked up 10 ground balls in the win. Shannon Weyer had the goalkeeping win with a save in just under 25 minutes of play. Cara Givens made five saves while minding the net over the final 35 minutes of play.

The Belles (7-7, 4-2 MIAA) host Elmhurst on Monday at the Holy Cross College South Field starting at 5:00 p.m.