The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 15, Old Dominion 8
Records: Detroit Mercy 3-11 (1-6 ASUN), Old Dominion 6-7 (2-4 ASUN)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (4/15/2017) -- Leading nearly wire-to-wire Saturday afternoon, the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team cruised past the defending ASUN champions Old Dominion, 15-8, on Senior Day from Titan Field. The Titans closed the game on a 5-0 run to earn their first ASUN victory of the season and third win at home.
The Titan seniors had a big hand in the victory with
Kelsi Pritchard tying a career high with five points on four goals and one assist,
Julie Castner adding a goal and draw control and
Danielle Kirby starting on the back line and helping a defensive unit that allowed a season-low eight goals.
Sophomore attack
Lexie Kinmond had a team-best six points on four goals and two assists, while classmate
Morgan Girardi added two goals and two assists. Junior
Jordyn Beam also tallied a hat trick and had four points, while junior defender
Brittany Fenney notched a career-best four caused turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper
Allison McDonough was big again in net, turning away 10 shots. McDonough and junior defender
Lauren Webley each had four ground balls.
Detroit Mercy dominated play early, scoring five of the first six goals of the game. Kinmond got on the board just 54 seconds into the contest and after an Old Dominion goal tied the game minutes later, the Titans reeled off four-straight to go up 5-1 with 16:08 left in the first half. Junior attack
Jessica Snyder began the run and it was followed by a pair of goals by Pritchard. Kinmond made it 5-1 with her second of the game to force ODU into a timeout.
The Monarchs pulled to within two goals, 7-5, with 2:30 left in the opening half, but Pritchard completed her sixth hat trick of the year on a feed from Girardi to help give Detroit Mercy an 8-5 halftime advantage. The game was even on the stat sheet at the break, with Detroit Mercy scoring eight times on 14 shots in the first 30 minutes. Both teams had seven draw controls, four saves and eight turnovers in the first half.
Pritchard opened the second half with her fourth goal of the game. Old Dominion scored three of the next four, but Detroit Mercy closed the game on a 5-0 run in the final 7:22 of the contest. Kinmond scored the first two goals in the stretch and Girardi followed with her 31st goal of the season. Beam tallied a goal with 1:53 remaining and then two seniors -- Castner and Pritchard -- connected for the final goal with Castner scoring to put an exclamation point on the win with seconds left.
Detroit Mercy finished the game with a 27-26 edge in shots, putting 23 of them on goal. Detroit Mercy was 18-of-23 on clears and tallied 21 ground balls, while forcing Old Dominion into 16 turnovers. The Titans had 11 draw controls, while ODU corralled 14 in the contest.
Webley inched closer to the 100-ground ball plateau in her career, nabbing four during the game and is now just two shy of the century mark. Kinmond surpassed the 50-point plateau and 30-goal milestone during the contest for the second time in as many years for the Titans. Girardi also reached 30 goals for the second consecutive season.
Pritchard continued her efficient shooting, scoring on both free-position opportunities and bringing her season total to 8-of-9 on free-position chances. It was her second-straight game of four points and second game of the year with four goals. The five-points tied a career best, set during her junior year.
Mucci finished with a team-best four draw controls to become the sixth Titan in school history to reach 100 DC in her career. She has a career-best 46 draw controls this season. Fenney's four caused turnovers tied a season-best for any Titan with Webley also tallying four caused turnover earlier this season against Butler.
McDonough, the ASUN leader in saves and saves pe game entering the game, notched the ninth game of 10 or more saves this season. She had a 55.6 save percentage during the contest, turning away 10 of the 18 shots on goal.
It was the second victory over Old Dominion in the five-game series history, dating back to 2015. Detroit Mercy and the Monarchs played to an overtime battle in last season's ASUN Championship game in Kennesaw, Ga.
The Titans honored their four seniors before the game --
Julie Castner,
Danielle Kirby,
Kelsi Pritchard and
Jaclyn Snyder. All four have been an integral part of a squad that has reached the ASUN Championship game in each of the past four seasons, while becoming the first squad to defeat Jacksonville in ASUN Conference history last season.
On Tap
Detroit Mercy returns to the road for its final three regular-season games of the season, visiting Delaware State and Howard next weekend before traveling to Central Michigan on Saturday, April 29 for its final regular-season contest.
