Adrian broke out to an early 3-0 lead over Saint Mary's Wednesday and the Belles were never able to recover.
"I thought we played below expectation in the first half and we quickly fell behind 3-0," head coach Ryan Crabbe said. "I went into this match with much higher expectations."
The Belles (3-7-1, 0-1) struggled in the first half of the game allowing all three goals before the half and were shut out for the seventh time this season.
With the game marking the beginning of the conference season, the Belles have found a couple more weaknesses that they need to work on to remain in the conference picture this season.
"Tonight we took a step backwards," Crabbe said. "Now we have a lot of work to do in order to catch back up with the rest of the conference and have a shot at making it to the MIAA tournament."
The Belles gave up their first goal of the game to Brittany Moreau in the 21st minute of the game, and a little over two minutes later the Belles gave up another goal.
After a weak first half the Belles came out strong in the second half out shooting their opponent 11-9.
However, the Belles were not able to capitalize on these opportunities and were held scoreless for the second straight contest.
"The players do show a tremendous amount of support for each other," Crabbe said. "However, we need our players to demand more of each other when faced with adversity on the field."
Senior Jessica Slean has been a pleasant surprise for Crabbe this season.
Crabbe noted that she has been one of his most consistent players this season and has shown the most improvement from the 2008 season.
"She is hands down our hardest working player day in and day out," Crabbe said. "We need more players to follow her example."
Senior goalkeeper Patty Duffy also had four saves in the game to increase her total for the season and continue to leave her mark on the Belles defensive unit.
For Saint Mary's, it will take a lot of relying on each other to overcome their early season difficulties and find the recipe needed for success.
"We know each other and the team is closer this year, but we still need to keep working to get to the point where we know for a fact that each and every one of us is going to give it their all for the team," Duffy said. "If we come out and honestly do that for every game it will be hard not to find success."
Crabbe also stressed that the team needs to work on maintaining its focus and scoring goals before their next MIAA game. The Belles will face Trine Saturday beginning at 3 p.m.
