BUFFALO, N.Y. (4/7/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team erased an early 5-1 deficit and were down 10-7 in the fourth, but the Titans ended the game with five-straight goals as the red, white and blue upended Canisius on the road, 12-10, on Saturday night.
The win moved Detroit Mercy to 5-6 on the season and 3-1 in the MAAC, while Canisius fell to 5-5 overall and 2-1 in league play.
Sophomore
Seth Mendell posted a team-high five points on a career-best three assists and two goals, while junior
Matthew Vangalen netted his fifth career hat trick with a season-best three markers.
Freshman
Brett Erskine finished with two goals and an assist and senior
Lucas Ducharme found the back of the cage twice. Seniors
Charlie Hayes and
Pat Masterson each had two caused turnovers and six ground balls and sophomore
Alex Jarzembowski had another stellar day going 14-of-25 in faceoffs with six ground balls.
The Titans scored first, but then the Golden Griffins came back with five straight to take a 5-1 lead early in the second. Detroit Mercy answered with a 4-0 run, but Canisius was able to take a 6-5 advantage into the break.
Detroit Mercy trailed by three twice in the second half at 9-6 in the third and 10-7 with 14:42 left in the game, but the Titans slowly started to shift the momentum tying it at 10-10 with 8:32 remaining and jumping in front, 11-10, with 5:15 left to play.
The Titans outshot Canisius, 39-33, won the ground ball battle, 31-29, and were 17-of-20 on clears.
Redshirt freshman
Logan Shamblin was back in net after missing last week with an injury and made 11 saves, including four in the final period.
Detroit Mercy will be back in the state of New York next week when the Titans head to Manhattan on Saturday, April 14, with game time set for Noon.
First Period:
- Off a caused turnover by freshman Paul Manuszak, Mendell fed Erskine and the Titans got on the board at the 11:21 mark.
- Canisius scored four goals between 5:11 and 1:20 as the Golden Griffins took a 4-1 lead after one.
Second Period:
- Canisius netted another goal, this time with the extra-man advantage, to extend its lead to 5-1 just 30 seconds into play.
- Shamblin made two saves and then Masterson had a caused turnover, picked up the ground ball and streaked down the field, firing a shot that beat the goalie for his first strike of the season at 8:53.
- Off a faceoff win, senior Sean Birney got some space and beat the keeper to make it 5-3.
- Detroit Mercy climbed to within 5-4 as junior Patrick Walsh set up Ducharme and he had a goal with 4:19 remaining.
- Jarzembowski would win the ensuing faceoff, and after the Titans put up a couple of shots, Erskine located Mendell and he tied the game with 2:24 left.
- The Golden Griffins were able to stop the Titan charge and scored at the 1:20 mark and were looking to add another goal late, but out of a timeout, Masterson was able to take the ball away and the clock expired.
Third Period:
- Each team traded goals as Erskine made it 7-6 with 8:54 on the clock.
- Canisius then scored two goals within 20 seconds to jump out in front, 9-6, with 2:06 remaining.
- The Titans were able to get another faceoff win and pepper the Griffs' goalie when Vangalen was able to hit the twine with eight seconds to make it a 9-7 contest.
Fourth Period:
- The Titans trailed by three again, 10-7, as Canisius scored early in the period.
- Shamblin made a couple of saves and that allowed the Titans to get the ball back, and Mendell found Vangalen and his goal made it a 10-8 contest with 11:53 on the clock.
- Two minutes later and the Titans were within one, 10-9, as Hayes fed Ducharme right in front of the net and he put it away.
- Jarzembowski won the next faceoff, and eventually, the ball made its way to Walsh, and he fired one to the back of the net to knot it at 10-10 with 8:32 left.
- Off another faceoff win by Jarzembowski, Detroit Mercy kept the offensive pressure going registering three shots before Mendell was able to knock in the go-ahead goal with 5:15 remaining.
- Canisius would turn the ball over and when the Titans got it back, Mendell set up Vangalen and he scored his hat-trick third goal to make it a 12-10 contest with 2:15 left.
- Hayes had a caused turnover that stopped a Canisius faceoff win, and Shamblin had two saves in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory.
Game Notes:
- Detroit Mercy is now 6-4 all-time against Canisius and is 6-3 all-time in Buffalo at the Demske Sports Complex when you count its MAAC postseason records in 2011 (1-1) and 2013 (2-0)
- The Titans now have seven fourth-quarter comebacks in their history and three have been this year with tonight's win, their win at Monmouth two weeks ago and their victory at Mercer earlier in the season
- Detroit Mercy was flagged for just one penalty, tying its season low with the one it was called for at Notre Dame in the season opener
- Mendell's career high in points is six accomplished last season when he scored six goals against Bellarmine
- Mendell had one assist coming into the game
- Vangalen moved into sole possession of 10th place in school history with 38 goals
- Hayes tied former teammate Paul Bitetti for fourth in school history with 59 caused turnovers
- Vangalen had three goals against Canisius last year
- It was Masterson's second career goal as he posted one last year at Marquette
- Jarzembowski is now 56-of-95 (58.9%) in the MAAC in faceoffs this season and 84-of-142 (59.2%) in conference play in his career
