MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (3/9/2015) -- Junior Kylie Birney scored five goals and the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team tallied 10 second-half scores on Monday afternoon, but the Titans' comeback effort fell just short in a 14-12 loss to Robert Morris.
 
Detroit (2-4) trailed the Colonials at the break, 6-2, but stepped up its offensive effort in the second half. Birney scored four of her five goals in the second half and the Titans tallied seven goals in the final 12 minutes of the game against RMU, the top-scoring team in the country entering the game. Detroit held RMU (4-1) to its lowest goal output of the season.
 
Senior Tessa Keuler scored off a draw control to begin three straight goals after RMU went up 11-5 with 11:49 left in the contest. Junior Michaela Schwartz followed with a goal just 38 seconds later and senior Annie Mendoza received a pass from Emma Mucci and scored to cut the deficit to just three, 11-8, with 9:41 left in the game.
 
The two teams traded goals for the next seven minutes as junior Julie Castner scored, Schwartz found the back of the net and Birney tallied her fourth. Birney would pull the Titans within two goals, 14-12, with her career-high-tying fifth marker of the game with 1:29 remaining and Detroit had a chance to cut it to one goal in the final minute, but Robert Morris made two saves in the last 60 seconds to help clinch the victory.
 
Senior Lexie McCormick was strong between the pipes for Detroit and made eight first-half saves against the top-scoring Division I team in the country. McCormick finished the game with 13 saves overall, her fifth game out of six this season in which she has collected more than 10 saves.
 
Mucci scored her first collegiate goal in the second half for the Titans and finished the game with her first two collegiate points. Birney (five goals), Schwartz (two goals, one assist) and Mendoza (one goal, one assist) also had multiple-point games for Detroit.
 
Birney posted five ground balls and three draw controls to lead the Titans. Castner also collected three draw controls, while senior Taylor Marshall and Mucci each finished with two ground balls. Senior Amanda Guthrie and Mucci also each added two draw controls.
 
The Titans, in the middle of a five-game road trip, return to the field on Monday, March 16, for a 1 p.m. contest at Delaware State.