A refocused Saints squad scored six unanswered goals en route to a 13-9 victory at Campus Avenue Field on the campus of Bates College.
“I just asked them to calm down, focus and play their game,” Klenk said. “They put us off a little, coming off strong like that, so I just told them to calm down, play their game and try to get the ball back.”
St. Dom’s knew the Scots would make a run at some point.
“Basically, lacrosse is a fast-paced game and a team can comeback at anytime,” St. Dom’s midfielder Caroline Gastonguauy said. “We had to keep going at it and we had to keep grinding because that’s what gets the ball back to the offense.”
The second half started with Desiree Wright scoring twice for the Scots in the first three-plus minutes. Hanna Lapointe forced Klenk to burn her her last timeout with her third goal of the game 4:15 into the half as the Scots cut the deficit to 7-6.
A little over a minute later, Emma Theriault completed a hat trick to get the momentum back in the Saints favor. Rileigh Stebbins scored two of the next three goals for Saints with Gastonguay scoring between Stebbins’ two goals.
It was Gastonguay’s fifth goal of the game.
Avery Lutrzykowski scored her second of the game and Elizabeth Perkins capped off the Saints’ six-goal second half.
“It’s essential we have a well-balanced attack,” Klenk said. “That’s what we tried to do and we have many shooting threats on our offense and we tried to open up and use that in the second half.”
The Saints (2-0) were without two of their key players in Isabelle Frenette and Kristina Cornelio, who were at a hockey tournament in Vermont.
“We had to trust the people who were stepping in for them,” Gastonguay said. “We did that and things worked out for us.”
Bonny Eagle (1-1) had another three-goal run to end the game when Wright notched a hat trick and Polly Rae scored twice.
Abby Slonina made four big saves in the second half for the Saints. It was the only four she made all game. Katelyn Michaud made eight saves in the game for the Scots.
“Abby stepped it up and she really stopped some key shots they had on us,” Klenk said. “She helped us stay in the game.”
In the first half, the 9 a.m. start had little affect on either team, with both striking twice in the first four minutes. Gastonguay opened up the scoring just past the one-minute mark. Lapointe and Natalie Bushey scored for Bonny Eagle to give Scots their only lead of the game.
Gastonguay scored three more times to give the Saints the 4-2 lead. She also had three assists in the game.
“I think I just used my speed, looked for open lanes and just drove to the goal,” Gastonguay said. “We worked it around the back (of the goal) and passed it to the cutters.”
Theriault notched two goals and Lutrzykowski notched her first of the game to give St. Dom’s the 7-2 lead before Lapointe notched her second goal of the game just before half to get the Scots within four.
nfournier@sunjournal.com
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