by Eva Dean Folkert

After a back-and-forth battle that led to a tied score in the first half, the MIAA Tournament Championship game was shaping up to be another nail-biting affair between the Hope College women's lacrosse team and the Saint Mary's College squad.

But a fiery second-half start by the Belles – that featured five unanswered goals – and a slow one for the Flying Dutch – who did not score until there was 12 minutes left to go – was the tale of the tape in the end. Hope succumbed to Saint Mary's, 14-13, in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday.

The Flying Dutch ended their season with an 11-3 overall record. The 11 wins equals the most in program history.

It was the third time Hope had made the tournament finals. The Flying Dutch were also runners-up in 2017 and 2021.

"It was an unreal season and nothing to be sad about," said second-year head coach Keagan Pontious.  "We fought hard with so many ups and downs. The reason we made it this far is because we put our differences aside and played as one.

"I am so proud of this team. We came so far in just one year. This is an amazing group of women and I wouldn't have wanted to coach any other team!"

The Flying Dutch had defeated Saint Mary's twice previously this year — in a non-conference game, 15-7, in February and an OT win that counted in the league standings, 16-15, in March.

But this time, the Belles were much better than the Flying Dutch in one important stat – draw controls. Saint Mary's was able to gain possession off the draw 20 times while Hope secured the ball just eight times. 

The Flying Dutch never had the lead in the game. In the first half, the game was tied five times. Hope battled back from a 5-2 deficit at the 19:12 mark to notch the score 5-5 and from there, the two teams mostly traded goals.

A buzzer-beating goal by a hard-charging Elena Salazar, who had taken the ball the length of the field after a save and clear by goalie Laurel Frederickson, made the halftime score, 9-9. 

But the Belles came out blazing to start the second half with five goals in a row to make the score, 14-9. Plus, their defense kept Hope off the board until 12:12 left in the game.

The Flying Dutch did score the game's last four goals, but Saint Mary's won the game's last draw control at the 1:24 mark, and Hope never gained possession again.

Leading the Flying Dutch in scoring was freshman Salazar (Howell, Mich./Hartland HS), junior Sophie Ackerman (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and senior Carly Pieri (Alto, Mich./Caledonia HS) with three goals each.

Senior defender Caroline Miholland (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow HS) gathered up the most groundballs with five, while senior goalie Frederickson (Alto, Mich./Lowell HS) made 10 saves.