Belles Topped by Knights

Box Score

• Kate Kelly led the Belles with four goals and three draw controls.
• Emilie Vanneste added a goal and an assist.
• Clare Theisen tallied an assist and pulled in three draw controls.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The final ten minutes of the first half proved to be a big difference maker in the Saint Mary's lacrosse team's 15-4 loss at Calvin on Tuesday evening.

The Knights struck first with a goal two minutes into the contest, but the Belles were able to turn a defensive stop into offense on the other end five minutes later as both teams were evenly matched at both sides of the field. Kate Kelly had a caused turnover and a ground ball before the Belles were able to clear the ball up the field. After working through the offense for nearly a minute, Emilie Vanneste sent a pass to Kelly along the right side of the goal circle. The freshman immediately sent home her first goal of the game to knot the score at 1-1.

Calvin regained the lead with two free position goals and an unassisted effort to make it a 4-1 contest, but the Belles again had a near-immediate response to help break up the scoring spurt. After a timeout by Saint Mary's, Kelly won the draw control, raced up the field, and drew a foul inside the critical scoring area to earn a free position shot. Her shot rang true to put Saint Mary's right back in the game at 4-2 with 10:34 left on the clock.

A quick succession of goals by Calvin, however, kick-started a 5-0 scoring run by the Knights over the final ten minutes of play to take a 9-2 lead into the halftime break.

The second half was a different story in terms of scoring as the Belles were able to re-establish themselves on both ends of the field. Calvin added to their lead with a free position goal to open the second half, but Clare Theisen made a near-perfect pass to Emilie Vanneste to help lead the junior to her 22nd goal of the season to make it 10-3 with 24:30 on the clock.

The teams went back-and-forth in the scoring column throughout the second period of play. Calvin extended their lead to nine goals at 12-3, but Kate Kelly once again won the draw and was unstoppable on her way to her third goal of the game with 12:27 on the clock. The Knights threatened again to keep the clock running after going up 13-4. The Belles, however, came right back when a caused turnover by Katlynn Dee started the transition and Kelly put home her fourth goal to make it 13-5 with 8:57 remaining.

The Belles connected on some strong passes which resulted in threatening shots as the clock moved below the five-minute mark. As close as many of those chances were - including two shots on goal by Hanna Makowski - the Belles could not find the back of the net. The Knights took advantage of an extra-player opportunity just under the two-minute mark for the final 14-5 margin.

The two sides were even in shots (12), ground balls (5), and saves (6) during the second half of play while the Knights had one more turnover (9) than the Belles (8) over the final 30 minutes of action.

Kate Kelly led the Belles with four goals and three draw controls. Emilie Vanneste added a goal and an assist. Clare Theisen tallied an assist and pulled in three draw controls. Cara Givens made six saves in goal over the final 30 minutes of play while Shannon Weyer made a pair of saves in the first half.

The Belles (6-7, 3-2 MIAA) host Alma on Friday, April 22 at 5:00 p.m.