GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin women's lacrosse team suffered its first conference defeat of the season, falling 12-9 to the visiting Saint Mary's Belles Saturday night at Eagles Stadium.

Saint Mary's (8-5 overall, 2-1 MIAA) gained a foothold in the game early with three goals in the first 4:29 of the game.

Calvin (7-5 overall, 3-1 MIAA) was able to stem the tide momentarily with a goal from senior Megan Gilbert (Lansing, Mich./Holt HS) on a free position shot but the Belles went on to take a 6-3 lead after one quarter of play.

Calvin fell behind 7-3 and 8-4 in the second quarter but fought back with a pair of goals a player down as senior Lainey Aldridge (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) scored on a feed from Gilbert and moments later Gilbert scored on a pass from freshman Audrey Booher (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian HS). Gilbert finished off the quarter in strong fashion with a free position shot goal to bring the Knights within 8-7 shortly before halftime.

Calvin had several chances in the third quarter to tie the game but came up empty. Saint Mary's then took the momentum with a pair of goals playing up a player to lead 10-7 after three quarters of play.

Saint Mary's scored the first two goals of the fourth before Gilbert was able to answer with a pair of late fourth quarter goals to close out the scoring.

Gilbert led all scorers with seven goals, one assist and eight points. She scored on seven of her 13 shots and added six draw controls while causing three Saint Mary's turnovers.

Aldridge had two goals to round out the Calvin scoring. Booher had three assists while senior Mekaelah McClymont (Camp Hill, Pa./Covenant Christian Academy) had one assist.

Senior Jessica Camp (O'Fallon, Il./O'Fallon HS) had 15 saves including a saves percentage of .556 for the Knights.

Saint Mary's had six different players score in the contest. The Belles held a 33-30 shots advantage. Neither team was effective on free position shots with Saint Mary's converting 2-of-6 and Calvin 1-of-7.  

NEXT UP: Calvin will break until next Saturday when it hosts rival Hope at 1 p.m. at Eagles Stadium.