Contact: Tyler Bremner, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (Mar. 26, 2025) – The North Central College women's lacrosse team earned its sixth victory of the 2025 campaign on the road after enduring a determined effort from the Saint Mary's College Belles in 13-9 fashion.

North Central (6-2 ) opened the match by scoring 85 seconds in as Annelise Oster fired a shot past Emma Zmudzinski in goal for Saint Mary (2-5). The Cardinals would not let up as Abby MacKenzie won the following draw control to fire another goal over a minute later to push a 2-0 lead. Another North Central draw control win by Lucy Culig gave Oster her second goal ten seconds later for a quick 3-0 lead with 12 minutes to go in the period. The Cardinal defense gave way over a minute later to allow the Belles on the board for the last score of the period.

The second period opened with a deadlocked 2-2 scoring run between offenses as Zoe Palm earned her first goal of the game with MacKenzie tallying her second in the first two minutes. With the score at 5-3, the Belles battled back, scoring an unanswered two goals over the next three minutes to tie the game. Oster retaliated with her third and fourth scores to bring the Cardinals back ahead by two, but Lana Skibins and Mary Grace Heekin would each score to tie the game once again into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, both defenses settled in with the Belles keeping North Central away from the net for the first five minutes. The Cardinals then rallied with a 3-0 run over the next eight minutes to take the lead at 10-8 between the efforts of Rachel Lawrence's two goals and Palm's second goal of the game. With the clock ticking below two minutes, Saint Mary's Rachel Speckhard found room to inch back within two before the start of the final period.

Looking to keep the Belles on the back foot, Oster tallied her fifth goal of the game over a minute in. With the Cardinals firmly in front at 11-8 with under nine minutes to go, Speckhard scored the final goal for the Belles with Palm and Oster each earning another goal to eclipse the effort 13-9.

Offensively, Oster led the team with six goals while Palm followed with three. Palm and MacKenzie each caused a pair of turnovers to keep Saint Mary's off balance. Alyssa Rose secured her fourth victory of the season throughout all 60 minutes with nine saves.

North Central continues their travel schedule at Calvin University on April 2nd for a 5 p.m. (ET) showdown.

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