LEXINGTON, Ky. (2/18/2017) -- Sophomore Matthew Vangalen recorded his first collegiate hat trick and senior Jason Weber turned away 13 shots, but the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team was edged by Mercer, 10-8, on Saturday.

The game was played at a neutral site at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.

Junior Alec Gilhooly had two goals and an assist and senior Kyle Beauregard, junior Sean Birney and freshman Seth Mendell all found the back of the net for a marker.

Senior Ben Gjokaj was 8-of-17 on faceoffs and sophomore defenseman Will Kane registered two caused turnovers.

Detroit Mercy (0-3) and Mercer (1-1) traded goals to start the game as the red, white and blue got on the board first. Birney began the scoring off an assist from Gilhooly just 33 seconds into the contest. 

Beauregard gave the Titans a 2-1 lead at the 10:54 mark and then sophomore Patrick Walsh set up Vangalen, who fired one in to make it 3-2 Detroit Mercy midway through the first.

Vangalen would strike again just as the horn sounded in the first quarter as freshman Donavon Dempsey located him and he drilled one to the twine to give the Titans a 4-3 lead.

The Titans would take a 6-4 lead with 9:13 left in the second as redshirt freshman Blake Grewal-Turner fed Vangalen and he posted his hat trick at the 11:50 mark, and then redshirt freshman Connor Bennardo hooked up with Mendell, and he beat the goalie for his first collegiate goal.

Mercer would score two more to knot things up at 6-6 at the break, but the Titans had one final lead at 7-6 as Gilhooly notched his first with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. After three-straight goals from the Bears, junior Lucas Ducharme helped free up Gilhooly on the extra-man attack and his score had the Titans down by just one, 9-8, with 3:55 left in the game. 

The Titans were outshot, 38-30, but were 20-of-21 on clears. 

Detroit Mercy will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 23, as the Titans host Jacksonville at Noon at Ultimate Soccer Arenas. 

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