The Basics
Final Score: Kennesaw State 22, Detroit Mercy 15
Records: Detroit Mercy 3-7, Kennesaw State 4-6
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. (Fifth Third Bank Stadium)
KENNESAW, Ga. (3/31/2019) -- Seven Titans found the back of the net Sunday afternoon, but the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team dropped a 22-15 non-conference contest to host Kennesaw State from Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The Titans were playing in their third-straight road contest.
The Titans (3-7) got multiple goals from five players with junior
Kaitlyn Wandelt, sophomore
Kamryn Corraro and freshman
Elise Harder each tallying hat tricks. Wandelt had five points (three goals, two assists) overall for the Titans. Seniors
Lexie Kinmond and
Morgan Girardi both added two goals, while sophomore
Kristina Ellis had two points on one goal and one assist.
Wandelt also tallied a season-best with a team-high six ground balls, while also leading the squad with three caused turnovers in the setback. Kinmond had a team-high with five draw controls, adding three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Wandelt had four draw controls and went 2-for-2 on free-position shots.
After Kennesaw State opened the game with the first three goals early, the teams went back and forth for the next several minutes with Harder, senior
Emma Leszczak, Kinmond and Corraro all finding the back of the net.
The Titans pulled to within two goals, 8-6, after Corraro and Wandelt went back-to-back on goals in a 70-second span midway through the first half. After another KSU goal made it 9-6, Detroit Mercy scored three of the next four goals to pull within one, 10-9, with 7:40 left in the first half. Harder scored two-straight goals in that run as Detroit Mercy was down just one.
The Owls responded with a run of their own, however, scoring the final five goals of the first half to take a 15-9 halftime lead. KSU continued the pressure in the second half, making it a 7-0 run overall after scoring the first two goals of the second half.
The red, white and blue then answered with a 4-1 run with four different goal scorers finding the back of the net. Girardi, Ellis, Corraro and Kinmond all scored as Detroit Mercy rallied to pull within five goals, 18-13, with 20:36 remaining in the contest. Kennesaw State scored the next two to make it 20-13 as the two teams combined for 33 goals in the first 41 minutes of the contest.
There was just one goal scored in the next 13 minutes as KSU slowed the pace of the game and the two defenses stepped up. Girardi scored with 12:44 remaining and Wandelt scored with 5:36 left to complete her hat trick, but the Titans were unable to complete the comeback attempt.
The shot count in the game was fairly even with the Owls edging Detroit Mercy, 32-29. The Titan defense forced Kennesaw State into 23 turnovers, earning 10 caused turnovers in the contest. As a team, the Titans had just 14 turnovers, a season low. Detroit Mercy also had a 16-14 edge in ground balls, but Kennesaw State held a 27-12 advantage on draw controls.
Seven Titans had caused turnovers in the game. Junior defender
Tegan McManus had two ground balls, adding one caused turnover. Harder, defender
Claire Conway, junior midfielder
Maeve Grady and freshman midfielder
Taryn McManus all each added one CT. Ellis tallied two draw controls for the Titans, with freshman midfielder
Emily Beazley adding one DC.
Detroit Mercy converted on all three free-position shots with Wandelt scoring on both of her shots and Girardi adding a free-position goal.
Titan News & Notes
• It was Wandelt's third five-point game of the season and seventh contest of four or more points in 10 games in 2019.
• Corraro tallied her second career hat trick and sixth game of multiple goals this season.
• Harder's hat trick was the third of her freshman season; She has scored in all but one game in her rookie campaign.
• Kinmond added two more goals and leads the squad with 44 points; Wandelt and Kinmond both share the team lead with 23 goals.
• Senior goalkeeper
Allison McDonough collected three ground balls during the weekend and has 191 total, two behind second place (Emily Boissonneault - 193) and seven behind the all-time mark (Zaynib Hamze - 198).
• Wandelt has four or more ground balls in six contests this season.
• Detroit Mercy had a season-low 14 turnovers in the game, while forcing 23 turnovers, the second most for an opponent all season.
• The Titans have played seven of 10 games away from Detroit so far in 2019.
• It was the seventh meeting between the two programs in women's lacrosse (Titans lead, 5-2).
Up Next
The Titans return to the road next weekend to close our a five-game road swing, heading East for games against Howard on Friday, April 5 and Delaware State on Sunday, April 7. Detroit Mercy's next home game is against SoCon foe Furman on Friday, April 12, from Titan Field.
