MACON, Ga. (2/20/2016) -- Sophomore
Alec Gilhooly posted his first career hat trick, and the Titans came back from a five-goal deficit to tie it up, but it was just not enough as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team fell at Mercer, 9-8, on Saturday afternoon.
Gilhooly tallied a career-high three goals and four points on the day. Senior
Andy Hebden recorded two goals and an assist, and junior
Kyle Beauregard found the back of the net twice.
Mercer (1-1) started strong with five-straight goals to begin the game and led 8-3 in the third when the Titans (0-2) stormed back with five-straight markers.
Gilhooly had all three of his goals and points in that span and his last strike would knot the game at 8-8 with 8:32 left in the contest.
The run got underway with sophomore
Sean Birney finding Gilhooly for his first score with 2:45 left in the third. The Titans then caught fire early in the fourth with four goals in a three-minute stretch.
Gilhooly had an unassisted tally at the 11:41 mark and then sophomore
Lucas Ducharme netted his first collegiate goal about a minute later. Detroit would take advantage of a Mercer penalty and Gilhooly located Beauregard for a marker with 9:52 remaining and the equalizer came at 8:32 in the fourth with Hebden feeding Gilhooly and he did the rest depositing it in the back of the net to make it 8-8 with 8:32 left.
The game remained tied for the next 4:43 as the Titans had their opportunity to take the lead, posting five shots to Mercer's one, but the Bears would get the difference maker with 3:45 on the clock.
The red, white and blue then peppered the Mercer goalie with five more shots down the stretch – helped by the defense forcing a turnover - but just could not get the tying goal to send it to overtime.
Senior
Paul Bitetti led the defense with a pair of caused turnovers, while junior
Jason Weber made seven saves in net. Freshman
Mike Sforza was 7-of-13 on faceoffs with two ground balls and Birney finished with two helpers.
Detroit ended up outshooting Mercer, 38-30, and was 12-of-15 on clears.
The Titans will now get ready for a big week as they host Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac before taking on top-ranked Notre Dame next Saturday.
For tickets to the Michigan game,
click here.Game Notes:The Titans lead the overall series, 4-1… Gilhooly's previous career high in points was two… Hebden already has five goals and six points on the season, approaching his career high of eight goals and five assists as a freshman… Birney has three assists on the year, two away from the five he handed out last season… Weber made 28 saves against Mercer last year…
