The Basics
Final Score: #8-Michigan 14, Detroit Mercy 7
Records: Michigan 15-2, Detroit Mercy 7-9
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (4/23/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team battled with in-state foe and nationally-ranked University of Michigan on Tuesday, allowing just two goals in the first 15 minutes of the contest and then finishing strong by scoring five of the final six goals in a 14-7 non-conference setback from Titan Field.
The Titans (7-9 overall) played inspired throughout their home finale, as the Detroit Mercy defense was tough early, allowing just two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. Senior goalkeeper
Allison McDonough was a key cog in that early effort, making four saves in the first 12 minutes of the contest.
The red, white and blue knotted the game up 2-2 on
Morgan Girardi's 29th goal of the season with 17:21 on the clock in the first half. The No. 8-ranked Wolverines would go on a run to finish up the first half, taking a 10-2 halftime lead over the Titans.
Michigan added three more goals early in the second half, but Detroit Mercy would gain the momentum quickly thereafter. After senior
Lexie Kinmond put a shot on net midway through the frame, sophomore attacker
Kamryn Corraro grabbed the loose ball and fired the rebound home for the Titans' third goal of the game with 15:09 remaining.
Just minutes later, sophomore attacker
Kristina Ellis and junior midfielder
Kaitlyn Wandelt would score back-to-back goals in a span of 48 seconds. That followed with sophomore goalkeeper
Maddie Johnson causing a turnover just minutes later and Detroit Mercy successfully went down the field with Ellis scoring again as Detroit Mercy had a 4-0 run in an eight-minute span.
Harder would make it a 5-0 Detroit Mercy run as she scored the seventh Titan goal of the game with a free-position goal with just 3:34 remaining. Harder's goal was her 27th of the season and extended the run. Michigan would score the final goal of the game with just 25 seconds left, but Detroit Mercy scored five of the final six goals of the game and out-scored Michigan in the second half overall, 5-4. The Titans held Michigan without a goal for 18-straight minutes in the second half.
The Wolverines held the shot advantage in the contest, 40-15, but had just a 15-10 edge in the second half. Detroit Mercy forced 20 Michigan turnovers and had 14 caused turnovers as a squad, with a career-best three of them coming from freshman defender
Claire Conway. Wandelt and McDonough also each had two caused turnovers, while seven other players tallied CT for the Titans.
Wandelt and Ellis led the Titans on the offensive end with two goals each. Wandelt added four draw controls and three ground balls. Conway and McDonough each tallied three ground balls for Detroit Mercy, while McDonough made nine saves in net in 40 minutes, while Johnson adding another Titan save, adding two ground balls and one caused turnover in her 20 minutes in net.
Senior defender
Alex McCafferty and freshman midfielder
Taryn McManus each added two ground balls for the Titans, which had 24 GB in the game, just one back of Michigan's 25. The Wolverines had a 17-8 edge in draw controls, but Detroit Mercy doubled up the Wolverines on saves (10-5). The Titan defense was also stout on free-position shots all game, helping limit Michigan to an 0-for-7 total in the contest.
Titan News & Notes
• It was the fourth meeting between the two schools and second in Detroit with the first coming in 2014.
• Detroit Mercy and Michigan played to the exact same score last season in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines earning an 14-7 victory.
• Corraro scored her 30th goal of the season in the game, reaching that plateau for the first time in her career.
• McDonough has nine or more saves in a game 11 times in 2019.
• Conway set new single-game career-highs in both caused turnovers (3) and ground balls (3).
• As a team, Detroit Mercy has tallied 14 caused turnovers or more on six different occassions in 2019.
• The Titans went across 200 goals on the season during the game.
• It was the second meeting with a Big Ten foe this season after Detroit Mercy met Ohio State in the season opener.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy plays in its 2019 regular-season finale on Saturday at Central Michigan in a big game in the Southern Conference postseason picture. The Titans, which have clinched a postseason spot, can clinch at least a share of the SoCon regular-season title for the second-straight season with a victory over CMU and are also playing for seeding positioning.
