NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Elmhurst women's lacrosse team was even with St. Mary's College after 45 minutes of action, but St. Mary's closed the contest with a 5-1 run to pull away for an 11-7 victory.

Elmhurst (4-10) struck first as Natalie Tylka found the back of the net less than two minutes into the contest. St. Mary's answered back immediately, tying the game less than a minute later on an Emilie Vanneste goal. The Belles scored three more goals over the next eight minutes to take a 4-1 lead.

The Bluejays rallied with three straight goals to pull even at 4-4. Ellen Brown scored with 14:09 left off a Phoebe LeRoy feed. Just 90 seconds later, LeRoy tallied a goal off a Meghan Keyes assist. LeRoy scored from free position with 5:39 left to knot the score at 4-4. Vanneste gave St. Mary's a 5-4 lead at the half with a goal with just 36 seconds left on the clock.

Hanna Makowski scored with 22:58 left in the second half to put St. Mary's up by two, but the Bluejays responded with a pair of goals over the next five minutes. Jamie Lawinger scored with 21:15 remaining to cut the lead in half and then netted her second goal of the game with 17:16 left after scoring from free position.

Goals from Vanneste and Kate Kelly less than a minute apart put St. Mary's back up by two, but Keyes struck for her 11th goal of the season with 8:46 left to cut the deficit in half. St. Mary's scored three times in the final 4:24 to pull away for the four-goal victory.

St. Mary's outshot Elmhurst 27-19 and had a 32-26 edge in ground balls. 

LeRoy paced the Bluejays' offense with five points on two goals and three assists. Lawinger added two goals while Keyes totaled a goal and an assist for the Bluejays. Annette Stidham totaled a team-leading five ground balls in the loss. Grace Knoebel recorded four saves in goal for the Bluejays. 

Vanneste led St. Mary's offense with five points on four goals and an assist. Kelly added three goals while Clare Theisen and Makowski scored two goals apiece. Cara Givens recorded seven saves for the Belles in goal. 

Elmhurst hosts Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday, April 27.