Lourdes held just an 8-6 lead at the intermission, but outscored Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference foe Bethel 6-2 in the second half to claim a 14-8 victory on Saturday afternoon at Morey Field.
 
"I'm proud of our effort today," said head coach Alyssa Shaver following the victory. "We were shorthanded today so we had to play some players out of position. We responded well and I think everyone stepped up and played a role in the win."
 
Bethel (1-11, 1-6 WHAC) got out to a quick start, scoring the contests first three goals within the first four minutes of the contest to force a Gray Wolf timeout with 26:05 left in the first half.
 
Bella D'Arcy (Hartland, Mich./Hartland) gave Lourdes life at the 22:33 mark of the first half, netting the first goal of the game for the Gray Wolves and cutting the lead to 3-1.
 
The Gray Wolves evened the score at 3-3 as Brianna Nantz (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) found both Emiliana Taylor (Grainger, Ind./Saint Joseph) and Claire Austin (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) for back-to-back goals.
 
Shortly after a Bethel timeout, Hannah Merrick (South Lyon, Mich./East) scored her first tally of the day to give Lourdes its first lead of the afternoon at 4-3. Merrick would once again find the back of the cage after receiving a pass from Taylor and capitalizing with 16:53 left in the first half to push the lead to 5-3.
 
After the Pilots answered back with a goal, Merrick netted her third goal of the half to push the Gray Wolf lead to 6-4. Nantz and Taylor each scored late in the half as Lourdes held an 8-6 edge at the break.
 
D'Arcy and Nantz tallied a pair of goals to open the half before a defensive miscue from Bethel resulted in an own goal to push Lourdes' lead to 11-6. Following a Pilot timeout, Merrick found the back of the net for the fourth time to push the lead to 12-6.
 
Bethel was able to stop the Gray Wolf offensive outburst scoring back-to-back goals to get within 12-8, but Nantz goal assisted by Merrick pushed the Lourdes lead to 13-8 with 11:06 left in the contest.
 
Merrick wasted time scoring again for the Gray Wolves, scoring with 7:49 remaining in the contest to add a final insurance goal as Lourdes sealed the 14-8 triumph.
 
Jacque Pappadakes (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) picked up the victory in the goal for Lourdes, stopping five shots.
 
Merrick paced the Lourdes offense with five goals, while Austin added three more for Lourdes. Tiara Reed (Maumee, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) led the team with five ground balls.
 
The Gray Wolves (7-8, 4-2 WHAC) are back on the road on Monday when they travel to Cleary to take on the Cougars at 7 p.m. at Lake Trust Stadium.