The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 19, Saint Francis 12
Records: Detroit Mercy 3-5, Saint Francis 3-5
Location: Loretto, Pa. (DeGol Field)
LORETTO, Pa. (3/23/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team used a big second-half run to break a halftime tie and never looked back Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 19-12 road victory at Saint Francis from DeGol Field. It was the second-straight victory for the Titans (3-5).
Eight Titans scored multiple goals during the contest, including three players tallying hat tricks, as Detroit Mercy scored a season-high 19 goals. Sophomore attacker
Kamryn Corraro scored a career-high four goals, senor
Morgan Girardi tied a season-high with five points on three goals and two assists and junior midfielder
Kaitlyn Wandelt also had a hat trick with three goals.
Senior attacker
Lexie Kinmond had a team-best six points on two goals and four assists, while senior attacker
Emma Leszczak, sophomore attacker
Kristina Ellis and freshmen midfielders
Elise Harder and
Taryn McManus all each scored two goals for the Titans. Wandelt tied the single-game school record with 10 draw controls, while Girardi had a career-high seven ground balls in the victory. Girardi and Ellis both had two caused turnovers. Ellis and
Taryn McManus also set new career-highs with five and four ground balls, respectively.
Senior goalkeeper
Allison McDonough had another strong game in net, turning aside 11 shots and totaling a 47.8 save percentage in the contest. She also had six ground balls, increasing her career total to 188, just 10 off the all-time record of 198.
Detroit Mercy and Saint Francis played back and for much of the first half with the score being tied seven different times during the first half. Saint Francis scored the lone goal in the first 10 minutes of the game as both defenses were up to the task early. The teams then traded goals throughout much of the first 30 minutes. Detroit Mercy used a 4-1 run late in the first half to take a 9-7 lead, but the Red Flash responded with the final two goals as the game was tied 9-9 at the halftime break.
Ellis, Harder and Girardi all found the back of the net early in the second half as Detroit Mercy went ahead 12-9. After an SFU goal ended the Titans' goal-scoring run, Detroit Mercy started another, scoring the next five goals to take a commanding 17-10 lead with 11 minutes remaining. It was an 8-1 run overall in the first 18:39 of the second half.
The second part of the run was scored by five different players with Harder scoring off a free-position opportunity, Wandelt scoring her third of the game (and third off a pass from Kinmond), McManus scoring her second, Girardi completing her hat trick and then Kinmond firing one on a side-armed shot to make it 17-10. Leszczak scored a goal off a pass from Girardi with under four minutes left and Corraro completed the scoring for the Titans, taking a pass from Kinmond and finishing off her first career hat trick.
The Titans went 7-for-11 on free-position shots (63.6 percent), with seven different Detroit Mercy players scoring off free-position chances. Corraro, Girardi, Leszczak and McManus all each scored on their lone shots on a free-position opportunity. The seven FPG were a season-high.
Four Titans had at least three DC with Wandelt tallying 10, but Ellis, Harder and Kinmond all each corralling three draw controls. The 19 draw controls in total were two shy of the season-high 21 that were tallied against Butler earlier this season.
The Titans held the shot advantage, 43-27, in the game behind their dominate second half. Detroit Mercy put 29 shots on goal, compared with 23 for SFU. The red, white and blue also held advantages in draw controls (19-14) and ground balls (32-27), while both teams had nine caused turnovers.
Titan News & Notes
• The 19 goals and 43 shots for the squad were both season-highs; Detroit Mercy has 35 goals in the past two games.
• Corraro's three goals were a career-high as it was the first hat trick of her Titan career.
• Wandelt tied the single-game school record for draw controls with 10; She's reached the mark four times in her career.
• Girardi tied a season-high with five points, also totaling five points in a home win over Butler earlier this season.
• Girardi's seven ground balls were a career-best and one shy of the season-high mark of eight, achieved twice by McDonough.
• It was McDonough's fifth game of 10 or more saves this season; She has 22 ground balls in her past three games.
• McDonough moved into a tie for third place all-time in career GB with 188; Former Titan GK Lexie McCormick also has 188 career GB in Titan history.
• The 19 DC were two off the season-high of 21 that the Titans had against Butler earlier in 2019.
• Detroit Mercy has at least nine caused turnovers in six of eight contests this season.
• Kinmond has a team-best 38 points (19 goals, 19 assists) and it was her fourth six-point game or better of the campaign.
• It was the fourth meeting between the two programs in women's lacrosse (Titans lead, 3-1).
Up Next
Detroit Mercy continues its stretch away from Titan Field, heading to Georgia next weekend for a pair of games. The Titans open SoCon play first, playing at league rival Mercer on Friday before taking on Kennesaw State in a Sunday non-conference contest. Both games are slated to be seen via live streams.
