Hope senior forward Julia Fischer picked up a hat trick to lead her Flying Dutch past Saint Mary's 3-1 in an MIAA conference game Saturday.
Fischer netted two goals in less than five minutes in the middle of the first half, then another one in the 53rd minute to give the Dutch a 3-0 lead, which the Belles couldn't overcome. The first and third goals mirrored each other; both came on set corner kick plays assisted by freshman Lauren Miller.
Fischer capitalized off of a Belles' turnover directly in front of their own net for the second goal and was unassisted on the play.
Saint Mary's freshman Julia Gragtmans was able to get her team on the scoreboard with 25 minutes remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late. Sophomore Samantha Goudreau picked up the assist by crossing the ball from seven yards out to an empty Gragtmans, who buried the shot.
Senior goalkeeper Amy Mahoney made five saves in attempt to keep the Belles in the game, but could not get in the way of Fischer's three shots on the day.
Leading Belles scorer Lauren Hinton, who has been recovering from an injury for the past few weeks, again made an appearance Saturday. She got off three shots, but couldn't find the back of the net.
The Belles were unable to get a shot on net in the first half, and picked up only eight in the second frame for one of their lowest totals of the season. Gragtmans had four of the team's eight shots.
Hope outshot the Irish 10-0 in the first half and picked up four more in the second.
The Belles have been idle the past week and seemed rusty against the Flying Dutch.
The team was not able to come back after a slow first half and respond to Hope's sizable lead, giving Saint Mary's its first conference loss.
Saint Mary's dropped to seventh place at 1-1-2 in the MIAA and 5-2-4 overall. Hope is over .500 for the first time this season with an overall record of 7-6. The Flying Dutch are 3-1 so far in conference play.
The Belles continue with conference play Tuesday when they take on Adrian at home.
