ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst women's lacrosse team dropped a 19-4 decision to Saint Mary's College.
 
The Belles (3-3) scored three goals in the first five minutes to take an early advantage. Grace Knoebel put the Bluejays (0-7) on the board with her 11th goal of the season, but Saint Mary's continued its offensive onslaught, scoring the next three to pull ahead by five.
 
Elmhurst scored next at the 17-minute mark as Ellen Brown netted her tenth of the campaign. With the Belles ahead 10-2, Knoebel found the net again on a free-position shot. Saint Mary's closed the half on a 3-0 run to pull ahead 13-3 at halftime.
 
Elmhurst scored on three of its six first-half shots and forced 15 turnovers in the opening 30 minutes.
 
Knoebel netted her third of the contest to pull Elmhurst within single digits early in the second half, but Saint Mary's scored the final six goals of the game to take the 19-4 victory.
 
The Belles outshot Elmhurst 35-12, including 24-9 in shots on goal. Saint Mary's also held the edge in ground balls (23-15), draw controls (18-7) and clear percentage (SMC 9-11, EC 10-22). Elmhurst won the turnover battle 23-22.
 
Knoebel led the Bluejay offense with three goals, while Saint Mary's had a trio of three-goal scorers. Both Elmhurst's Megan Keener and the Belles' Cara Givens finished with five saves.
 
The Bluejays continue their home stand with two games this weekend. Elmhurst will host Adrian College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Cornell College Sunday at 12:00 p.m.