DETROIT (3/26/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team saw five different players net goals on Saturday – including the first collegiate goal by senior
Jordan Yono – but a late rally came up short in a 7-5 loss to No. 20/20 Air Force on Saturday at Titan Field in the home opener for 2016.
In the fourth game of the season for the Titans against a nationally-ranked program – and the first ever at home - 887 fans were in the stands marking the largest home attendance ever at Titan Field for a lacrosse game, topping the 703 in UDM's first-ever home game in 2009 against Wheeling Jesuit. It is also believed to be the largest home attendance in school history for a game played at Titan Field.
Sophomore
Mark Anstead led the Titan point scorers with a goal and an assist, while Yono, senior
Andy Hebden, junior
Kyle Beauregard and sophomore
Lucas Ducharme all had a goal.
Senior
Paul Bitetti and sophomore
Charlie Hayes each had two caused turnovers with Bitetti picking up four ground balls. Junior
Jason Weber made 10 saves in net and had a team-high five ground balls to go with two caused turnovers.
The Titans (1-6, 1-0 MAAC) trailed 7-3 with 5:39 left in the contest when they began one last charge for the upset. Anstead was able to shake his defender and beat the goalie with 4:49 left and just 16 seconds later, the senior defenseman Yono won a faceoff and eventually got the ball back from sophomore LSM
Pat Masterson, and he fired one in to make it 7-5. The shot was the first of his career.
Detroit had a couple of opportunities down the stretch to get closer, including a man-up situation for 30 seconds, but UDM just could not complete the comeback against Air Force (8-2, 2-0 SoConn).
Playing one of the best defensive teams in the country, the Titans started slowly on offense as the Falcons had a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. That is when Ducharme got Detroit on the board off a pass from sophomore
Alec Gilhooly at the 7:13 mark. The Titans then cut it to one as Beauregard beat the goalie with 3:44 remaining.
After an Air Force goal, the Titans took advantage of a Falcons' penalty and Anstead fed Hebden to make it a 4-3 at the half.
Air Force would net two goals in the third and another in the fourth before the Titans ended the game with a pair of strikes.
The Titans were outshot by Air Force, but did force 17 turnovers. UDM was also 19-of-21 on clears.
Anstead, Hayes and Hebden all had two ground balls and Yono was also 2-of-4 in faceoffs.
Detroit will now return to MAAC play next week as the red, white and blue host Siena at 1:00 p.m. on Titan field in another game that will be televised live on ESPN3.
Game Notes:Air Force now leads the overall series, 3-0… The 887 fans is the fifth largest in Titan history as the first four were all indoor games at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac against Michigan (1909 in 2014 and 1,800 in 2012), Bellarmine (1565 in 2010) and Ohio State (1,367 in 2015)… The home opener was supposed to be against Michigan on Feb. 24, but inclement weather forced that game to be canceled... The game was the fourth of the year for the Titans against a nationally-ranked foe as Detroit is now 0-12 all-time against top-20 teams … The Titans were undefeated at home last season at 6-0, one of eight teams in the nation to go undefeated at home… The last time a Titan team hosted a military academy was in 1958 as men's basketball played Army in the Motor City Classic… Hebden's goal was his 14th point of the season, a new career high… Anstead has now scored a goal in 21-straight games… It was Masterson's second career point as he had an assist last year against Manhattan… Weber has now made double-digit saves in 28 of his 32 career games…
