MACON, Ga. (2/18/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team found themselves in a 5-0 hole in the second and a 7-2 deficit in the third, but the Titans staged an epic comeback with three goals in the final 4:23 before the game-winner in overtime as the red, white and blue surged past Mercer, 8-7, on Sunday afternoon.
The five-goal deficit is tied for the biggest rally in school history and also marked the seventh time in school history that the Titans have recorded a fourth-quarter comeback. Detroit Mercy (1-1) – who did not get on the board until the 3:24 mark of the second period - scored the final six goals of the contest.
Freshmen
Brett Erskine and
Brennan Kamish each tallied two goals – with Erskine registering an assist as well. The rookie also picked a great time for his goals notching his first collegiate marker and tying the game at 7-7 with 19 seconds left before beating the keeper in overtime. Senior
Charlie Hayes and redshirt freshman
Matt Turner each had a goal and an assist and senior
Marcus Butters and sophomore
Seth Mendell also found the back of the net.
Redshirt freshman
Logan Shamblin made 10 saves and allowed just one goal in the second half and two in the final 40 minutes of action. Junior
Sam Horton and sophomore
Alex Akins each tied their career high with three caused turnovers with Akins scooping up a career-best seven ground balls.
The Titans saw Mercer strike for three goals in the first two periods as the Bears led, 5-0 at the 9:38 mark in the second, 6-2 at the break and 7-2 with 12:47 remaining in the third. Trailing 7-5, Akins forced a turnover and on the offensive possession, Erskine found Turner and he buried one past the goalie with 1:23 left. Horton then caused a turnover to get the ball back and a shot by senior
Pat Masterson was saved, but Erskine was able to retrieve the ground ball and quickly turned and fired one in the net to knot it at 7-7 with 19 seconds left.In overtime, Masterson caused a turnover and in transition, junior
Matthew Vangalen found Erskine and he capped off the comeback win beating the keeper.
Detroit Mercy will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 20, as the red, white and blue travel to Jacksonville to take on the Dolphins in a 7 p.m., start.
First Period:
- Mercer scored just two minutes into the contest and led 2-0 late in the period.
- Shamblin made four saves in the first period to keep the Titans in the game, but Mercer was able to get another goal with 1:10 left.
Second Period:
- The Bears added to their lead with a goal at 14:19 and 9:38.
- The Titans first score came by way of their defense as Hayes knocked the ball out of a Bears' player, picked up the ground ball and in transition, he sent a shot past the keeper with 3:24 left.
- The Titans pulled within 5-2 as Turner set up Kamish for his second goal of the season at 1:38.
- Mercer was able to get that back scoring with just 22 seconds left.
Third Period:
- The Bears were able to once again take a five-goal lead at 7-2 with 12:47 remaining in the period.
- The Titans began their comeback as Hayes found Mendell and he tickled the twine at the 4:22 mark.
- Detroit Mercy's defense allowed just six shots in the period and saw Mercer commit seven turnovers.
Fourth Period:
- Shamblin had an early save and sophomore Bo Pickens caused a turnover to stop the Mercer offense from getting on track.
- The Titans then killed a 2-man down penalty situation with Shamblin coming up with a save.
- The Titans got on the board as Kamish drilled one in the net with 7:09 left.
- The Titans were down a man again on a penalty and were able to blank the Bears, but they did have some luck as Mercer's possession hit the crossbar and went out of bounds.
- Off the quick restart, senior Alec Gilhooly passed to Butters and he was able to lace one past the goalie to make it 7-5 with 4:23 remaining.
- The defense came up big again as Akins' third caused turnover was picked up by sophomore Emmett Green and eventually found its way to Erskine, who set up Turner's first collegiate goal with 1:23 left.
- Horton was able to jump-start the Titan offense again with a caused turnover and after Masterson's shot was saved, the ball was in a scrum in front of the goalie and it found its way to Erskine, who picked it up and quickly turned to shoot, tying it at 7-7 with just 19 seconds on the scoreboard.
Overtime:
- Masterson was the one who caused a turnover this time and Akins picked up the ground ball, and once the Titans got the ball in the box, Mercer was unsettled as Vangalen found Erskine and almost two minutes after scoring his first goal, he tallied the game-winner with 3:11 left in extra time.
Game Notes:
- The Titans lead the all-time series, 5-2
- The five-goal comeback is tied with the 14-13 win at Siena in 2015 (trailed 5-0) and the five-goal rally against Siena in the 2013 MAAC Championship (trailed 8-3 in the second and 9-4 in the third)
- The Titans are now 5-5 all-time in overtime games
- The last overtime game was an 11-10 win against Robert Morris in 2015
- Butters' other career goal was at Siena in the 2015 comeback victory
- Akins had three caused turnovers against Monmouth last season, while Horton had three at Notre Dame last week
- Akins career high in ground balls was two entering the game
