by Eva Dean Folkert

Midfielder Paige Wilmer, pictured top right, and the Hope College women's lacrosse team parlayed a big advantage in groundballs into a 15-7 victory over the Saint Mary's College Belles at home on Saturday.

The Flying Dutch gathered twice as many groundballs as the Belles, 21-10, with Wilmer scooping up 11 of her own.

That upper hand allowed Hope to make every possession count against Saint Mary's, resulting in more Flying Dutch shots, 33-29, and more shots on goal, 27-20.

The win, which counts as a non-conference victory, moves Hope's record to 2-0 while the Belles drop to 1-1.

League play begins on Wednesday, March 24 for the MIAA.

Wilmer, a senior from Columbus, Ohio (Upper Arlington HS) also tied for the lead in scoring in the game with five goals, along with freshman attacker Elena Salazar of Howell (Hartland HS).

On a sunny, late-winter day, Hope jumped out to a 5-1 at the mid-point in the first half and led at the end of the first 30 minutes, 7-2.

Saint Mary's scored two quick goals to open the second half and cut the Hope lead to 7-4, but the Flying Dutch then scored four goals in a row – two by freshman midfielder Molly Frederickson of Alto (Lowell HS), one by senior midfielder Carly Pieri of Alto (Caledonia HS) and one by Salazar – to increase their lead, 11-4, with 19:35 to goal.

Some goal-trading then ensued between the two teams, but Hope closed out the game with a three-goal scoring spurt, two by Salazar and one by Wilmer, for the 15-7 final.

Though more than half of Hope's goals were scored unassisted, junior attacker Madison McCreery of Rockford (Rockford HS), pictured bottom right, led the Flying Dutch with three assists.

Hope goalie freshman Maddie Yakes of Rockford (Rockford HS) registered 13 saves with a 65% save percentage.

"We were patient on attack today. Normally we are frantic," said head coach Keagan Pontious, "but we found the right opportunities and right paths to score on their zone defense."

"We were also pretty composed on defense, too," Pontious added. "We held them to their 90-second shot clock four to five times. And credit to Molly (Frederickson) who shut down their best player and held her to only two goals. That was a key for us in winning the game too."

The Flying Dutch travel to Adrian College on Wednesday, March 3 for a 7 p.m. game against the Bulldogs.