Box Score Atlantic Sun Video Highlights JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (5/2/2014) -- Junior goalkeeper
Lexie McCormick made 16 saves for the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team as the Titans raced past Elon, 15-11, on Friday afternoon in the Atlantic Sun Semifinals held at Southern Oak Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
With the Titan offense in full swing, third-seeded Detroit will now play the No. 1 seed Jacksonville on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. (ET) in the Atlantic Sun Championship, with the winner walking away with the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. That game will be shown live on ESPN3.
Earlier this season, the Titans (5-12, 3-2 Atlantic Sun) fell 9-8 to Elon (8-9, 4-1 A-Sun) on the road and dropped an 18-5 home decision to the Dolphins.
This time around against the Phoenix, Detroit used an early 5-0 run to take a lead it would never give back and it led by at least two goals from the midway point of the first half and by at least four goals the entire second stanza.
McCormick had nine saves in the first half, including many of the highlight variety, as she set up her own stonewall in front of the Titan cage. Elon finished with a 29-23 edge in total shots and a 27-19 advantage in shots on goal.
Tessa Keuler netted five goals and added two assists to lead the Titan offense, while
Annie Mendoza also poured in five goals.
Kylie Birney and
Erin Campbell each added two goals apiece and
Kelsi Pritchard rounded out the Titan scoring.
Michaela Schwartz provided two assists and Campbell also added a helper.
Vittoria Wallace had one caused turnover along with three ground balls and two draw controls and
Ally Shrader led the Titans with two caused turnovers while also picking up two ground balls.
Elon scored the first two goals of the game to go up 2-0 with 26:20 left in the first, but the Titans came back with five straight markers. Pritchard scored with 22:22 left and then Keuler drilled a low hard shot past the goalkeeper to tie the game, 2-2.
Mendoza added the third Titan goal and then Keuler and Birney followed to make it 5-2 UDM with 15:57 left in the first half.
Elon did manage to make it 5-3, but Mendoza scored the next two goals to increase the Titan advantage. Schwartz assisted on her first goal and the second helper came from Keuler as the Titans went up by a 7-3 score.
Birney continued the offensive outburst as her second of the day made it 8-3 in favor of Detroit with 5:46 to play in the first half.
Elon countered to make it 8-4, but the Titans continued to bring the offense as Keuler scored her third of the afternoon and then provided an assist on Campbell's goal for a commanding 10-4 lead at the break.
The second half started with Elon netting a pair of quick goals to cut the Detroit lead to 10-6 helping remind the Titans to play a full 60 minutes.
Mendoza brought the Titans back as she fired a laser into the top right corner to make it 11-6 on her fourth goal of the day. Keuler was right behind her as she netted her fourth to put Detroit up by six goals with 24:14 remaining.
Elon scored one back, but it was Mendoza who came up with her fifth of the afternoon to tie Detroit's largest lead of the day, 13-7, with just over 20 minutes left.
The Phoenix continued to try and rise with another goal, but the Titans again continued to hold steady. Keuler took a pass from Campbell to give UDM a 13-8 advantage with 14:58 to play. Elon tallied two more goals to cut the lead to four, 14-10, but the four-goal difference was the closest the Phoenix ever came as Campbell scored a late goal and the Titans took the contest, 15-11.
Titan fans don't forget to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook at Detroit Titans. You can also follow the women's lacrosse team on Twitter @DetroitWL and on Facebook at Detroit Titan Women's Lacrosse.
