Belles Victorious Against Bulldogs

Box Score

• The Belles posted their best MIAA record to-date with a 7-1 mark in league contests.
• Mary Singler led all players in the game with five goals and became the first Belle to net 50 goals in a season.
• Kate Kelly chipped in three goals, an assist, six draw controls, and six ground balls.

ADRIAN, Mich - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team prevailed in a 19-15 final at Adrian on Saturday afternoon.

The Belles fell behind early against the Bulldogs as Adrian posted the first two goals of the game through the first six minutes. Hanna Makowski rattled a shot off of the post and collected the ground ball before Kate Kelly maneuvered her way through the defense for the first goal for the Belles at the 24:00 mark.

Adrian came right back with a goal 30 seconds later to take a 3-1 lead, but Saint Mary's was unfazed by the deficit. Kendra Osinski had a shot turned away from inside the critical scoring area, but the Belles kept possession of the ball. Kate Kelly made the most of that extended stretch of offense by netting her second goal of the game to make it 3-2 with 21:26 on the clock. Clare Theisen snagged the ensuing draw control, and Kelly picked up the assist with a strong leading pass to Emilie Vanneste as the senior co-captain got on the scoreboard to tie the game at 3-3.

The Bulldogs regained the lead with a free position goal a short while later, but the Belles again came up with the response. Mary Singler tied the game just a few short seconds later, and Molly Stout and Singler registered the next two goals of the game to give Saint Mary's a 6-4 edge with 15:07 remaining in the first half. Adrian broke up the scoring spurt with a goal, but the Belles responded yet again with three consecutive goals by Vanneste, Kendra Osinski, and Stout to gain a 9-5 lead. Clare Theisen made it a 10-5 game with 6:05 left before the break before the Bulldogs tallied a goal with under five minutes left in the half to make it 10-6. Kendra Osinski and Mary Singler each added a goal in the final three minutes of the period, however, to give the Belles a 12-6 lead at the half.

Singler opened up the scoring in the second half by netting her 50th goal of the season, becoming the first player in program history to collect 50 goals in a year. The freshman added to that total less than two minutes later to make it a 14-6 game with 24:36 remaining. Adrian began to chip away at the deficit with three consecutive goals to push the score to 14-9. Osinski regained some momentum for Saint Mary's with her third goal of the game, but the Bulldogs continued to climb back into the game with three more goals to make it 15-12.

Kate Kelly broke up the scoring spurt, and Clare Theisen netted a response goal a short while later as the score moved to 17-13 in favor of Saint Mary's. Adrian continued to have success on the offensive end of the field as the Bulldogs made it a three-goal game at 17-14 with 7:19 remaining. Osinski rocketed home a free position goal less than a minute later to keep a strong lead for the Belles.

A late push by Adrian saw the Bulldogs score a free position goal with 4:31 to play. After regaining the ball a short while later, the Belles burned more than three minutes off of the clock with a sustained possession in the offensive end. That same possession ended in a goal by Molly Stout with 44 seconds to play to ice the win for the Belles in the 19-15 final.

The Belles posted their best MIAA record to-date with a 7-1 mark in league contests. That record gave Saint Mary's their best finish in the young program's history with sole possession of second place. The victory also gave the team their 10th overall win of the year, which is the first time the program has won double-digit games in a season.

Mary Singler led all players in the game with five goals while collecting an assist and six ground balls. Kendra Osinski posted four goals, and Kate Kelly chipped in three goals, an assist, six draw controls, and six ground balls. Molly Stout added a hat trick on the day. Clare Theisen scored two goals, assisted on four goals, and had a game-high nine draw controls. Emilie Vanneste scored a pair of goals, and Abby Krauss earned an assist. Cara Givens made six saves in goal.

The Belles (10-6) will host third-seeded Hope on Wednesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. for the semifinal round of the MIAA Tournament.