The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 17, Central Michigan 9
Records: Detroit Mercy 10-7 (4-1 SoCon), CMU 11-6 (4-1 SoCon)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (4/28/2018) -- With a dominating effort on Senior Day, the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse program captured a share of the inaugural Southern Conference regular-season title in a 17-9 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday.
The Titans (10-7, 4-1 SoCon) earned their first regular-season title in program history and also secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Championship. The Titans split the regular-season conference crown with Central Michigan, which entered the game 4-0 in league play.
With the victory, Detroit Mercy reached 10 victories for the third time in its 10-year history. The Titans also improved to 3-0 all-time against the Chippewas.
Detroit Mercy earned the win in emphatic fashion on Senior Day from Titan Field with the squad using both sides of the ball in the victory. The Titans allowed just four goals in the first half and then used a 5-0 run in the second half to take complete command of the game and never looked back.
The Titans, which out-shot Central Michigan 44-27, peppered the goal early and after CMU scored the game's first goal, Detroit Mercy tallied the next four markers. Both teams were strong defensively in the first 15 minutes of the game with just one goal being allowed from either side.
Junior attacker
Lexie Kinmond broke the school record for assists in a career (85) and assists in a season (34) on the very first goal of the game, finding freshman
Meredith Moore, who scored at the 14:23 mark to even the game 1-1. Senior
Jessica Snyder, who scored four goals Saturday, scored just a minute later and she was followed by goals from freshman
Kristina Ellis and redshirt sophomore
Kaitlyn Wandelt as Detroit Mercy went ahead 4-1.
Snyder and Moore scored back-to-back in a span of 36 seconds as Detroit Mercy went ahead 6-2 late in the first half and Kinmond closed out the half with a great spin move and goal as Detroit Mercy led 7-4 after 30 minutes. Junior goalkeeper
Allison McDonough and the Titan defense were strong in the first half, forcing 11 CMU turnovers with McDonough turning away six shots on goal in the opening 30 minutes.
Wandelt scored two minutes into the second half to open the scoring and after a CMU goal made it 8-5 on the scoreboard, Detroit Mercy went on a strong run, scoring the next five goals to take command of the game. Snyder scored twice during the stretch, while Kinmond, Wandelt and junior
Morgan Girardi all scored goals as Detroit Mercy pulled ahead 13-5 with 17:43 left.
Central Michigan would get within seven goals, but never closer as Detroit Mercy maintained control of the game down the stretch. Girardi scored twice in the final 10 minutes and junior
Emma Leszczak added two goals as the Titans broke the school record for goals in a season (238).
The Titans were strong on both ends, forcing 11 first-half Central Michigan turnovers as the Chippewas were just 6-of-12 on clears in the opening half. Detroit Mercy held the advantage in shots (44-27), caused turnovers (12-6), turnovers (10-19), draw controls (15-13) and ground balls (19-17).
On Senior Day, senior
Jessica Snyder tied her season-high with four goals, scoring on each of her shots. Girardi and Wandelt each added four points on three goals and one assist each. Kinmond and Moore each had two goals and one assist, while Leszczak added two goals.
McDonough made six saves in each half for 12 saves total, a season-high during the Southern Conference season.
Wandelt posted six draw controls and Kinmond added four DC. Senior
Brittany Fenney had three draw controls, while senior
Lauren Webley had a team-best three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Senior
Taylor Spray posted a team-high four ground balls. Girardi and Moore both had two caused turnovers for the Titans.
All eight seniors were honored prior to the game --
Jordyn Beam,
Emma DeYoung,
Brittany Fenney,
Emma Mucci,
Lauren Sharkey,
Jessica Snyder,
Taylor Spray and
Lauren Webley -- before the 2018 class picked up their 38th victory as a four-year class. The class is 38-34 with the first three winning campaigns in school history during their four years together and now have earned a regular-season championship.
Titan News & Notes
• The Titans have won six of their past seven contests overall and finished the season 5-2 at home.
• Detroit Mercy's 44 shots were the second-highest of the season (46 vs. Delaware State).
• Snyder established a new single-season career-high in goals with 23.
• Kinmond broke the career marks in assists in a single-season (34) and in a career (85).
• Girardi set a new career-best in points with 51 (she had 50 points last season).
• Wandelt is the first player to reach 80 points in a season since 2012 (Anna Eidem - 83 points).
• Webley moved into third place in career caused turnovers (73).
• The Titans set a new program best with 238 goals on the season; The 2010 and 2016 squads each had 235 goals.
• The red, white and blue now have new single-season highs in goals (238), assists (105) and points (343).
• Detroit Mercy earned 10 wins in 2015 and 12 victories in 2016 as the only other times reaching 10 triumphs.
• Head coach
Laurie Merian earned career win No. 50 (34 wins at Alma; 16 victories at Detroit Mercy).
• Detroit Mercy has won each game against CMU by five goals or more (3-0 all-time).
Up Next
The top-seeded Titans will play No. 4 seed Mercer in the opening round of the Southern Conference Championship at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 3 from Mercer University in Macon, Ga. The semifinals winners will meet in the championship game which is slated for noon Saturday, May 5 at Mercer.
