Once again, the Saint Mary's found itself in a very tightly contested match. But, once again, they came up just one goal short.
Saint Mary's endured its third consecutive one-goal loss falling 2-1 against conference foe Albion Wednesday afternoon.
A first half headlined by great defensive play yielded only one goal for Albion which came with just three minutes remaining before halftime.
The Belles came out with a quick answer in the 51st minute off the foot of junior forward Micki Hedinger. Hedinger received a pass from fellow junior Sam Smogor and slid it past the Briton keeper to knot the game at one.
However, the Saint Mary's resurgence was quickly matched when Albion countered with a goal of its own in the 58th minute.
Junior Patty Duffy had another solid game in goal for the Belles recording five saves. Duffy has made 77 saves on the season.
This loss brings the Belles' season record to 2-12-1 overall and 1-7 in MIAA play. Saint Mary's finishes eighth in the conference, good enough to clinch the final spot in the postseason tournament.
In his first season as Belles head coach, Ryan Crabbe has had his work cut out for him taking over such a young and inexperienced team. The freshman class led by Katelyn Tondo-Steele's two goals and one assist has contributed about half of the offensive production this season.
Saint Mary's will take the field in a do-or-die scenario against top-seeded Calvin College when the MIAA tournament begins Nov. 1. The contest is scheduled to kickoff at noon.
In a match up earlier this season with the Knights, the Belles did not fair well falling 4-0 at home. Saturday, Saint Mary's will look to reverse that result and claim its first MIAA tournament victory in school history.
