POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (3/30/2019) -- Trailing 11-8 with under nine minutes to go, the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team scored four goals in a five-minute span to stage an epic comeback as the Titans caged the Marist Red Foxes, 12-11, on Saturday afternoon.

The win moved Detroit Mercy to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the MAAC, while Marist fell to 4-4, 2-1 in league play. The win was also the first-ever on the road at Marist as the Titans were 0-8 all-time at Tenney Stadium with an 0-5 mark against Marist and three other neutral site losses in the playoffs.

Sophomore Logan Shamblin made a career-high 17 saves - 11 in the first half alone - and senior Matthew Vangalen posted six points with one goal - the game-winner - and five assists as he broke the school record for career assists at 65.

Detroit Mercy trailed 11-8 after Marist opened up the fourth quarter with three-straight goals. The comeback started at 8:53 as Vangalen broke the school assists mark by finding freshman Max Payton and his strike made it 11-9.

The Titans won the next faceoff and this time Payton was the playmaker as he found senior Brent Lubin and he fired in his first collegiate goal to make it 11-10 with 8:43 on the clock. Almost three minutes later, the offense struck again as freshman Cam Kostus unleashed a shot from 15 yards out and he beat the keeper to knot it at 12-12 with 5:20 to go.

Detroit Mercy took the lead with just over four minutes remaining as Vangalen - who attempted just three shots in the game - put one in for the 12-11 advantage.

Marist was able to get off four shots in the final two minutes, but Shamblin recorded his career-best 17th stop in that attack and the Titan defense held the Red Foxes off the scoreboard for the win.

Mendell tallied three goals for his sixth hat trick of the season. Payton finished with two goals and an assist and sophomore Ryan Figueiras registered a goal, an assist and a caused turnover. 

Junior Alex Jarzembowski won 12 faceoffs and had five ground balls and a goal and sophomore Paul Manuszak posted four ground balls and also scored. 

Detroit Mercy will be back in action next Saturday, Apr. 6, as the red, white and blue start a two-game homestand with Manhattan with opening faceoff set for Noon at Titan Field. 

First Quarter:

• After a Shamblin save, the Titans struck first as Vangalen found Mendell in front of the net and he beat the keeper just a minute into the game
• Shamblin made another save stuffing a Marist attacker just a few feet away from the cage
• After Marist tied it up, Payton gave the Titans a 2-1 lead at the 8:58 mark off a great pass from Erskine
• Taking advantage of a Marist penalty, the Titans went up 3-1 as Vangalen fed Mendell and he put one past the goalie with 7:27 left
• After a shot was saved, Manuszak picked up the ground ball and with his long pole, quickly went up and fired one in right in front of the cage with 5:17 remaining
• Shamblin turned away another shot with 2:11 on the clock before the Red Foxes made it 4-3 just 10 seconds later
• The Titan goalie stopped another point-blank attempt with 1:27 left and again with under a minute on the clock for his sixth stop of the frame

Second Quarter:

• Shamblin made two more saves in the first three minutes to keep the game tied at 4-4
• The Titan netminder kept up his hot play as off a turnover and a 2-on-1 advantage, he came up with another save at the 10:20 mark
• Marist kept firing shots and with the man-up, scored to take a 5-4 lead with 7:12 remaining
• Right after that, Jarzembowski won the faceoff and went right for the goal, unleashing a shot to the back of the net to square it at 5-5
• Shamblin made another save - his 10th - with 6:18 to go
• He finished the half with 11 saves, but Marist scored the last two goals to take a 7-5 lead at the break

Third Quarter:

• The Titans got on the board first when the defense forced a failed clear and then Vangalen set up Mendell for his hat trick just 40 seconds in
• Nearly a minute later, junior Matt Turner tied the game at 7-7
• Shamblin stopped another Marist attempt on goal for his 12th save at 10:29 and upped his total to 14 at 8:11
• The Titans defense forced a couple of turnovers, but the offense could not take advantage
• Detroit Mercy knotted the game at 8-8 as Vangalen led him to the net and he put it up high past the goalie with just over a minute to play
• The Titans turned away another Marist offensive set with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period

Fourth Quarter:

• Marist grabbed the lead back, 9-8, at 12:47 using the extra-man attack
• Shamblin stopped another shot with 11:25 left, picking up his 15th save
• Shamblin tied his career high with his 16th save at 9:01 and that started a fast break where Payton took a pass from Vangalen and buried it in the back of the net to make it 11-9 with 8:53 left
• Off the ensuing faceoff, Jarzembowski won the battle and quickly got it to Payton, who found Lubin and the senior fired a laser past the keeper for his first career goal to pull the team within one, 11-10
• After the Titans peppered Marist with a few shots and a pushing call kept possession with the red, white and blue, Kostus tied the game at 11-11 with a blast from 10 yards out at the 5:17 mark
• Detroit Mercy extended its run to four straight as Vangalen's first goal gave the Titans a 12-11 advantage with 4:06 on the clock
• Shamblin made his career-best 17th save with 1:05 left deflecting a Marist shot wide

Game Notes:

• Marist leads the all-time series, 7-6, as 10 of the 13 games have been decided by three goals or less, including eight by one goal
• Detroit Mercy entered the game 0-5 all-time on the road in the series and had actually never won at Tenney Field losing their other three neutral games in the MAAC Championship semifinals
• The Titan offense now has 15 players who have found the back of the net this year
• The game featured the top two faceoff specialist in the MAAC as Marist's Payton Smith leads the MAAC and is fourth in the nation winning 67.8 percent (99-of-146), while Jarzembowski is second in the conference and tied for 15th in the country at 61.8 percent (123-of-199). 
• Last year, Jarzembowski won the battle going 16-of-25, while Smith was 7-of-16
• Jarzembowski has now won double-digit faceoffs in 22 career games and 19-straight dating back to last season
• Kostus has now scored a goal in seven of the nine games on the year
• Payton now has seven goals and two assists in his last three games
• Lubin recorded his first collegiate point earlier in the year on an assist against Jacksonville
• Mendell now has six hat tricks on the season - nine in his career - and in five-straight games
• Mendell now has 61 career goals to tie Joel Matthews '12 for sixth in school history
• Mendell is now ninth in school history with 81 career points, just three shy of Brandon Beauregard '15 for eighth place
• Vangalen passed Alex Maini '15 for the most assists in school history at 65
• Vangalen now has 11 games with at least five points in his career
• Shamblin has recorded double-digit saves in 18 career games
• Shamblin's previous career high was 16 at Quinnipiac two weeks ago and he now has 48 saves in his last three games