DETROIT (4/20/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team set a program record with its fifth MAAC win of the season as the Titans used a 3-0 run in the second to take the lead and a 3-0 run in the fourth to put the game away in a 14-8 victory over Siena in the Motor City on Friday.

The win moved Detroit Mercy to 7-6 overall and 5-1 in the MAAC as the red, white and blue clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship. The fifth MAAC win is the most in school history surpassing the four it had in 2011 and 2015. 

Junior Matthew Vangalen – the reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Week – led the offense with four goals and two assists. Freshman Brett Erskine added two goals and a season-high three assists for a season-best five points, while fellow freshman Brennan Kamish posted his first career hat trick with three goals. 

Junior Sam Horton tied his career high with three caused turnovers. Senior Charlie Hayes had two caused turnovers and six ground balls and senior Pat Masterson recorded a pair of caused turnovers with four GB's.

Redshirt freshman Logan Shamblin made a season-high 15 saves and picked up a game and career-best eight ground balls.

The contest was tied at 3-3 in the second when the Titans scored three goals in a 2:16-minute span to take the lead it would never relinquish. Detroit Mercy scored seven goals in the second for a 9-5 advantage at the break.

Siena pulled within three, 11-8, early in the fourth, but Detroit Mercy went on another 3-0 run in a two-minute span midway through the period to extend its lead to 14-8, and that is how it ended. 

Detroit Mercy outshot Siena, 53-37, won the ground ball battle, 37-25, and forced 12 of the Saints' 19 turnovers.

The final regular season game will be next Saturday, Apr. 28, when the Titans host Cleveland State at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day as the Titans honor their senior class prior to the game.

The MAAC Championship is set for May 3-5 and will be held at Monmouth. As the No. 2 seed, the Titans know they will play in the second semifinal game set for 3 p.m. on May 3, against either Monmouth or Canisius. Those two schools will meet each other next week. 

First Period:

• The Titans won the opening faceoff and less than two minutes into play, Erskine fed Vangalen for the early 1-0 lead.
• Off another faceoff win, the Titans set up the offense again and sophomore Seth Mendell put in his first of two goals on the day.
• The Titan defense saw Horton come up with two of his caused turnovers in the first period and Shamblin had four saves to help keep Siena off the board.
• The Saints finally scored their first goal with 15 seconds left.

Second Period:

• The Titans took advantage of a Siena penalty and senior Sean Birney set up Kamish for his first goal at the 13:37 mark.
• Siena would score two in a row to tie it at 3-3, but just 10 seconds after their third goal, sophomore Alex Jarzembowski won the faceoff and that led to Vangalen locating Erskine, and he netted a marker for the 4-3 lead.
• After a Siena turnover, Vangalen was able to beat the netminder for a 5-3 score with 8:41 left.
• Horton's third caused turnover would get the Titans the ball back and then Walsh was able to find Birney and his rip made it 6-3 at the 7:32 mark.
• Shamblin made two more saves, but Siena got one back at 6-4 with 4:18 remaining.
• That was quickly erased as the Titans won another faceoff and Erskine found Vangalen again and he made it a 7-4 contest with 3:24 left.
• Just 45 seconds later, another faceoff win saw Erskine feed Walsh and he notched his marker for an 8-4 lead.
• Siena scored with under a minute left, but freshman Paul Manuszak came up with a caused turnover with 30 seconds on the clock, and the ball eventually made its way to Kamish who fired a shot to the back of the net with 11 seconds left and the Titans had a 9-5 lead at halftime.

Third Period:

• The Saints got the first goal of the second half about five minutes in, but later on, Hayes had a caused turnover and Vangalen unleashed another shot to the net for a 10-6 lead with 3:36 remaining.
• Shamblin recorded a save and the Titans added to their lead as senior Lucas Ducharme found Kamish and he posted his hat trick at the 1:42 mark.
• Siena added a late marker as the red, white and blue led 11-7 after three.

Fourth Period:

• Siena scored just 11 seconds in to pull within three, 11-8.
• The Titan defense then saw Masterson register a caused turnover as well as Shamblin after he made a save to keep Siena at bay.
• Hayes then recorded a caused turnover and on the offensive end, Vangalen set up Erskine and his marker made it a 12-8 game with 6:33 on the clock.
• There were two Siena penalties on that score, and after Jarzembowski had another triumph in the faceoff, senior Alec Gilhooly found the LSM Manuszak and he scored his second goal of the year for a 13-8 advantage with 6:21 left. 
• After another save by Shamblin, the Titans padded their lead even more as Mendell had the unassisted marker with 4:46 remaining. 

Game Notes:

• Detroit Mercy now trails the all-time series to Siena, 6-5, but beat the Saints for the first time at home (1-3)
• The Titans can share the regular season title with Quinnipiac if the Bobcats fall at Marist next week
• The most wins ever in Titan history is eight in 2015
• The 53 shots are the second most in Titan history behind only the 58 against Manhattan in 2015
• Vangalen now has 20 points in the last three games on 14 goals and six assists
• Vangalen moved into sixth place in the Titan record books with 86 career points and tied Matt Gregson for seventh in school history with 49 goals
• Hayes moved into sixth place in school history with 128 career ground balls
• Horton had three caused turnovers at Notre Dame and at Mercer this season
• Manuszak had a goal against Air Force
• Shamblin's previous season high was 14 saves against Bellarmine and Ohio State, while his previous best in ground balls was six against OSU
• Shamblin allowed single-digit goals for the seventh time this season and for the third time in his five MAAC starts