The Basics
Final Score: #8-Notre Dame 24, Detroit Mercy 9
Records:Â Detroit Mercy 0-1, Notre Dame 2-1
Location: South Bend, Ind. (Loftus Sports Center)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (2/11/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team gave No. 8-ranked Notre Dame everything it could handle in the first half of the 2017 season opener for the Titans, but the Fighting Irish pulled away in the second with the Titans falling, 24-9.
Sophomores
Morgan Girardi (three goals) and
Lexie Kinmond (two goals, two assists) and senior
Kelsi Pritchard (two goals) led the Titan offense in the 2017 opener. It was the first game for the Titans (0-1) under head coach
Laurie Merian and Detroit Mercy looked strong in the first half, taking the lead five different times against the Top-10 ranked Fighting Irish (2-1).
After a scoreless first 12 minutes of the contest, Detroit Mercy got on the scoreboard first with Pritchard finding the back of the net off a feed from junior attack
Jordyn Beam at the 17:16 mark of the first half. Notre Dame followed with two goals, but Detroit Mercy regained the lead when Girardi scored her first followed by Beam's first goal of the season with 13:33 left in the opening frame.
Minutes later after a UND goal, Pritchard scored her second in front of the net off a great feed from Kinmond. The teams traded goals in the next few minutes with Kinmond's free-position marker giving Detroit Mercy a 6-5 lead with 5:55 left in the first half. The Fighting Irish scored the next three goals to take an 8-6 lead, but Detroit Mercy would pull to within one just before the halftime break, as junior
Jessica Snyder scored a man-up goal with just 31 seconds left.
At the first 30 minutes of the game, Detroit Mercy trailed 8-7. The Titans played well in the draw circle in the opening half, totaling eight draw controls, the same number as Notre Dame. Detroit Mercy was also 9-of-11 on clear attempts in the first half.
The Fighting Irish scored the first seven goals of the second half before Kinmond's second marker of the game and fourth point of the contest halted the run. Kinmond's goal at the 22:01 mark of the second half cut the Notre Dame lead to 15-8. Girardi would complete her hat trick later in the second half, but the Fighting Irish continued to find the back of the net on their home turf.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Allison McDonough made a career-high 15 saves in net for the Titans, 10 of them coming after halftime. The Titans finished the game 15-for-20 on clears (75 percent), totaled 12 draw controls and grabbed 12 ground balls in the contest.
Juniors
Lauren Webley and
Brittany Fenney each had team-highs with three ground balls. Beam finished with two points on a goal and assist, while Fenney, Kinmond, junior
Brianna Plester and sophmore
Kaitlyn Wandelt each had two draw controls. Girardi had five shots on goal.
It was the third meeting between the two schools in women's lacrosse with all of them being played in South Bend. It was the first game for Detroit Mercy against a Top-10 opponent since the 2015 season, when the Titans fell in their season opener at #10 Ohio State. The nine goals scored by the Titans were the most goals scored against a ranked team in program history.
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