Belles Fall Short in MIAA Championship Against Knights

Box Score

• Erin Doyle led the Belles with three goals and two assists as she also picked up five ground balls and caused three turnovers.
• Kate Kelly added three goals and five draw controls.
• Emily Kraker made 12 saves and tallied six ground balls.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's lacrosse team saw their season come to a close in a tough 16-8 loss against Calvin in the MIAA Championship on Saturday evening.

The Belles came out ready to battle against the Knights. Emily Kraker made a pair of saves over the first six minutes of the game with the second of those saves resulting in a ground ball pick up by Rachael Leonard. Erin Doyle drew a free position attempt in transition, and Doyle sent home her 90th goal of the season to put Saint Mary's up 6:42 into play. Kraker had another save two minutes later, but the Knights maintained possession of the ball. Calvin used that possession to draw even with 20:26 on the scoreboard.

Saint Mary's responded quickly to regain the lead. Erin Doyle gained the draw control and eventually picked up an assist as Kate Kelly fired home her first goal of the game. Clare Theisen won the ensuing draw control, and Doyle earned another free position attempt. The freshman found the back of the cage with her second goal of the contest as the Belles went ahead 3-1 with 19:05 remaining in the first half.

After some strong defensive plays by both teams, the Knights took advantage of a caused turnover by scoring a free position goal to cut the Belles' lead down to one. Just over a minute later, Calvin tied the game with another free position goal. The Belles had a look at regaining the lead as Clare Theisen drew a free position opportunity less than 30 seconds later, but her effort went high of the crossbar. The host Knights took the lead with a goal two minutes later, and Calvin quickly posted three additional goals over the next three minutes of play to gain a 7-3 lead with 11:24 remaining in the first period. Kendra Osinski and Erin Doyle each had scoring chances stopped by saves, and the Knights grew their lead to 9-3 with 7:04 to play in the first half.

The Belles dug deep as they worked to get themselves back into the game. Kate Kelly won the next draw, and the Belles had an extended possession before Kelly scored a free position goal to make it 9-4. Kendra Osinski added a well-placed free position goal from the center of the critical scoring area a minute later as Saint Mary's chipped away at the deficit. Doyle won the next draw control, and the Belles worked through an offensive set until the ball became loose inside the critical scoring area. With the ball still on the ground, Kate Kelly was able to get enough power behind the ball with a wrist shot to score from close range to make it 9-6. The Belles' defense came up with a big stop late in the half as the game went to the break standing at that same 9-6 score.

Saint Mary's had a good scoring chance early in the second period. Rachael Leonard played a pass from the midfield ahead to Kendra Osinski just inside the Belles' offensive end restraining line. Osinski quickly turned and fed a pass to Erin Doyle, who was open in transition. Doyle quickly made her way toward goal as she cut from right to left. Her far-post shot, however, was saved. Molly Stout had a shot on goal of her own stopped a minute later, and the Knights used their next possession to score a goal to gain a 10-6 lead.

Four minutes later, the Belles worked their way back onto the scoreboard. Erin Doyle spun off of a defender along the left side of the critical scoring area. That move gave her enough space to play a high pass to Molly Stout just outside of the goal circle. Stout caught the pass high and shot from a high angle downward and into the goal to pull the Belles within three at 10-7 with 22:13 still to play. Calvin quickly expanded their lead back to four with a goal on their next possession. Emily Kraker made four saves over the next five minutes of action to keep Saint Mary's close. The Belles then fought off a stretch of almost two minutes of playing down two players due to yellow cards.

Erin Doyle had two shots saved, and Molly Stout saw an effort stopped in front of the goal line as Belles continued to work toward decreasing the deficit. Calvin, however, broke up the collective scoring drought of more than ten minutes with a goal as the clock stood at 9:19. Almost two minutes later, Emily Kraker came up with a huge save of a shot from almost point-blank range. A minute later, Doyle had a favorable deflection off of a shot which had initially been saved as the freshman was credited with her third goal of the game to make it 12-8 with 6:40 remaining. Calvin, however, posted two goals over the next two minutes and added a pair of goals in the final three minutes of play to take the 16-8 final.

Erin Doyle led the Belles with three goals and two assists as she also picked up five ground balls and caused three turnovers. Kate Kelly added three goals and five draw controls. Kendra Osinski and Molly Stout each notched a goal. Clare Theisen posted four draw controls, and Caleigh Gainey led the team with four caused turnovers. Emily Kraker made 12 saves and tallied six ground balls.

The Belles finish the season 12-6 as the 12 wins marks a new school record for victories in season. The 2018 team posted new program single-season highs for goals (277), assists (97), points (374), shots (601), ground balls (468), draw controls (272), caused turnovers (214), saves (157), save percentage (.495), and goals against average (8.83). Additionally, the team won their first postseason game and made the first-ever MIAA Championship appearance in program history.