PONTIAC, Mich. (2/23/2017) -- Senior
Kyle Beauregard tied it up, sophomore
Matthew Vangalen gave the Titans their last lead and senior
Jason Weber made five keys saves in the fourth quarter as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team defeated Jacksonville, 12-11, on Thursday afternoon at Ultimate Soccer Arenas.
Beauregard tallied a hat trick with a team-high three goals, including two in the fourth. Vangalen had two goals and an assist and juniors
Sean Birney and
Alec Gilhooly posted a pair of goals.
Weber made 10 saves on the day and the Titans had to hold off four extra-man opportunities in the second half for the come-from-behind win.
The Titans (1-3) led for much of the first half, but Jacksonville (0-3) scored three straight goals to take a 9-8 lead early in the third. Junior
Adam Findlay then stopped that spurt by beating his defender and firing one in to tie it at 9-9 with 9:52 left.
Beauregard then put the Titans ahead, 10-9, with an unassisted goal three minutes later, but two-straight scores from the Dolphins had the red, white and blue trailing, 11-10, with 9:07 left.
It remained that way as Weber came up with a couple of big saves and Beauregard eventually made the Dolphins pay, netting his third goal to tie it at 11-11 with 5:28 remaining.
Weber made two more saves – one from point blank range on a Jacksonville offensive player – and that setup sophomore
Patrick Walsh, who fed Vangalen and he beat the goalie for the one goal lead, 12-11, with just over three minutes left and the Titan defense did the rest.
Detroit Mercy outshot Jacksonville, 46-33, and was 18-of-20 on clears.
Senior
Ben Gjokaj was 8-of-21 on faceoffs and picked up a team-high five ground balls. Junior
Charlie Hayes and freshmen
Alex Akins and
Donavon Dempsey had a caused turnover and two ground balls apiece.
Detroit Mercy got off to a quick start as it led 4-1 with 3:30 left in the opening period. Vangalen tied it up at 1-1 and then junior
Lucas Ducharme assisted on Birney's first goal of the contest to make it 2-1 at the 6:10 mark.
Sophomore
Emmett Green had an unassisted marker to increase the lead to 3-1 and then redshirt freshman
Connor Bennardo located Gilhooly, and he gave the red, white and blue a 4-1 advantage.
After two the Dolphins cut it to 4-3, Birney netted a goal on the extra-man attack late in the first and Beauregard beat the defense for his first of the game early in the second to make it a 6-3 game.
Gilhooly somehow was able to squeeze one in to make it a 7-5 contest midway through the second and freshman
Seth Mendell notched his second goal of the season with 2:30 left in the first half for an 8-6 lead.
The Titans will now get ready for its fifth game in 14 days when they head to Robert Morris on Saturday, Feb. 25. Game time is set for 11 a.m., at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pennsylvania
