The Belles came out strong and quick in a 2-1 victory over the Albion Britons on Wednesday afternoon in a key MIAA league game.
It was all freshmen, all the time for the Belles, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first half on goals by Whitney Fron and Lauren Hinton. The two freshmen combined for five shots and numerous scoring chances as the Belles moved to 6-4 in MIAA play, 7-6 overall.
Fron got the Belles on the board first, only 11 minutes into the game. Fron received a pass from midfielder Carolyn Logan and deposited the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
The second and game-winning goal came towards the end of the first half. Hinton ripped a shot past Albion goalkeeper Diana DeRoo for the 2-0 lead off of a pass from defender Mary Esch.
The Belles held out with a strong defensive showing in the second half, allowing six shots on goalkeeper Laura Heline. The lone Albion score came with under two minutes remaining to play in the game. Briton attacker Jayne Godlew lined up for a penalty kick and delivered the ball home to put the game at 2-1, but the Belles would not let the Britons pressure for the tying goal.
The Belles pushed down into the Albion zone, and freshman Mandy Thomson got a shot off only to be saved by DeRoo in the last minute. The remaining time was killed off, and the Belles were able to emerge from the field with a victory in hand.
The win keeps the Belles in a close heat for third, tied with Kalamazoo - who defeated Alma in a game played early yesterday.
Heline made four saves on the day, three of which came in the crucial second half. Heline was able to turn the shots away and help the Belles take another step towards the top of the MIAA ladders.
Albion committed twelve fouls to the Belles nine. The Belles dominated the corner kick game as well. They managed to arch six balls from the corner slot to the awaiting mass in front of the Albion net, but failed to convert on any. Albion was granted only two corner kicks, one in each half.
The Belles next go into action against three-win Alma College at home this Sunday at 2 p.m. The game is the Belles' second-to-last home game of the season.
