The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 11, Kennesaw State 10
Records: Detroit Mercy 4-5, KSU 2-7
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (3/29/2018) -- In come-from-behind fashion, the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team earned an 11-10 victory over visiting Kennesaw State on a rainy Thursday afternoon from Titan Field. The Titans improved to 4-5 overall and 2-1 at home on the season.
Trailing 8-6 with 20 minutes left in the game, Detroit Mercy went on a run to take control of the contest. The Titans scored four-straight goals with junior
Morgan Girardi starting the run with her 13th of the season at the 11:15 mark of the second half. Just seconds later, after a
Kristina Ellis draw control, junior
Emma Leszczak took a pass and then found Ellis, who tied the game 8-8 with her second goal of the contest.
Girardi grabbed the ensuing draw control out of the air, sprinted down the field and again found the back of the net and with three goals in a span of 35 seconds the Titans had gained their first lead of the game, 9-8, with 10:40 remaining.
Detroit Mercy took a 10-8 lead after senior
Jordyn Beam scored her third goal of the game off a free-position opportunity with 8:06 left on the clock. Beam, who went past 100 career points in the game, finished 3-for-3 on free-position shots during the contest.
The Owls would score the next two goals to knot the game up 10-10 with 5:00 left in regulation. Ellis grabbed another draw control (she had six on the day) and Girardi scored her third goal of the half at the 3:19 mark as Detroit Mercy again took the lead, 11-10.
Redshirt sophomore
Kaitlyn Wandelt nabbed the next draw control and after a turnover for each team, the Titans called timeout with 2:22 left.
Detroit Mercy had two shots with under 90 seconds left in the game, but neither found net. Kennesaw State went down the field one more time and had a free-position shot with 18 seconds left on the clock. KSU's Siena Gore's free-position shot was wide of the net and then senior
Brittany Fenney helped cause a KSU turnover with under 10 seconds left, junior goalkeeper
Allison McDonough secured the ground ball and senior
Lauren Webley ran the time out with the ball on her stick as Detroit Merch sealed the triumph.
Beam and Girardi each finished the game with three goals, while Ellis also had three points with two goals, one assist. Wandelt added two goals to become the fifth player in school history to reach 100 career goals. Ellis had six draw controls, while Girardi added four for the Titans. Freshman midfielder
Meredith Moore tallied a team-best three caused turnovers, while senior
Emma Mucci had five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Webley and Fenney each also had two CT.
McDonough made nine saves and grabbed four ground balls.
Detroit Mercy was great on draws all day, holding a 17-6 advantage over KSU. The Titans also held advantages in shots (28-23), ground balls (21-17) and saves (9-8), while both teams finished with 13 caused turnovers. Detroit Mercy went 18-for-23 on clear attempts and forced 19 KSU turnovers.
KSU began the game on a 5-1 run, but Detroit Mercy was undeterred, closing the gap to two goals, 7-5, by halftime. Beam scored two of her goals in the first half, while junior
Lexie Kinmond had one goal and one assist in the opening 30 minutes.
The whistles were active in the game with 60 total fouls being called and nine cards being issued between both teams.
Titan News & Notes
•
Kaitlyn Wandelt reached 100 career goals during the contest with her two goals.
•
Kristina Ellis tallied career-highs in goals (2), points (3) and draw controls (6).
• Beam went over 100 career points during the contest, becoming the 12th player in school history to reach the mark.
• The Titans tallied season-highs in caused turnovers (13) and draw controls (17).
• Webley went into fourth place all-time in caused turnovers (69) with her two on the day. She is two back of third place.
• McDonough reached 100 saves on the the season; She has three-straight seasons of 100 or more saves.
• McDonough moved into sixth place in career ground balls (132).
•
Meredith Moore posted a career-high with three caused turnovers in the game.
•
Sarah Lucas was making her first career start for the Titans.
• Detroit Mercy holds a 5-1 series advantage over KSU all-time in women's lacrosse. The two teams were ASUN opponents for several seasons and former Titan coach Laura Maness now coaches the Owls.
On Tap
Detroit Mercy continues its home-stand Saturday at 11:30 a.m., hosting Mercer for the Southern Conference opener for the Titans. The game is slated to be streamed live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications from Titan Field.
