Saint Mary's dropped its second straight conference game Saturday to MIAA foe Alma by a final score of 5-1, after dropping their previous game 1-0 to Calvin.
Alma (6-6-2, 2-1-1) was able to gain an early advantage in the game scoring both in the 24th and 27th minutes to take a commanding lead that the Belles (4-9-1, 1-3-0) were never able to recover from.
The Belles were down 3-0 heading into the half but came out strong in the second half scoring early in the half on senior Micki Hedinger's ninth career goal.
Heading into the game head coach Ryan Crabbe noted that the Belles needed to come into the game and earn three points and he also felt the team would need to get ahead early and play with a lead.
Unfortunately, the Belles were not able to do that and currently sit seventh in the standings out of nine teams.
Alma rebounded from the Belles score to net two more goals past senior goalkeeper Patty Duffy and claim the 5-1 win.
Duffy played the entire 90 minutes of the game for the Belles and totaled eight saves.
Alma was able to double the number of shots taken by the Belles in the game 20-10 to help lead their charge. Thirteen of those shots were on goal.
Sam Smogor and Sam Goudreau registered the only two shots on goal for the Belles in the contest, and along with Colleen Ferguson were the only Belles starters to register a shot for the day.
Freshman Maddie Meckes was able to come in as a substitution for the Belles and also registered a shot on goal in the game.
Having already exceeded last year's win total the Belles seem to be heading in the right direction, and with a strong group of new faces they will look to regain form as they take on Elmhurst on Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m.
