POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (5/2/2019) -- Despite four goals from junior Seth Mendell, the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team couldn't overcome a scorching-hot start by Quinnipiac as the Titans fell to the Bobcats, 19-10, Thursday in the MAAC Championship semifinals at Tenney Stadium on the campus of Marist.

The Titans (8-7, 5-2 MAAC) found themselves down 9-0 early in the second quarter, after Quinnipiac scored eight goals in the opening frame. From thereon, the game was fairly even, with the Bobcats (9-6, 6-1 MAAC) outscoring Detroit Mercy by only one goal, 11-10.

It was the final game for seniors Mark Anstead, Connor Bennardo, Nick Boynton, Emmett Green, Sam Horton, Brent Lubin, Mike Sforza, Michael Turnbull and Matthew Vangalen. 

The red, white and blue scored three unanswered goals in the second quarter to trim its deficit to six goals. Detroit Mercy would pull within six goals of Quinnipiac three more times, all coming in a fourth-quarter rally.

Four of the first five goals in the fourth quarter went the Titans' way.

Sophomore Brett Erskine kicked off the run on a feed by junior Bo Pickens, and sophomore Paul Manuszak added another goal 19 seconds later. After a Quinnipiac goal, sophomore Ollie Nigh and Mendell scored for the Titans to make it a five-goal game.

Mendell finished with a team-high five points. Manuszak totaled two goals on the day, and freshman Cam Kostus, senior Brent Lubin, Erskine and Nigh all chipped in one goal.

Manuszak posted a game-high eight ground balls, with Nigh adding seven, two more than any Quinnipiac player.

Junior Alex Jarzembowski won the face-off battle with ease, winning 21 of the game's 31 face-offs.

Senior Michael Turnbull logged 45 minutes in the Titans' net in relief of sophomore Logan Shamblin, totaling seven saves over the final three quarters.

Quinnipiac won the battle in shots (47-36), shots on goal (27-19), saves (9-8) and caused turnovers (10-9).

• The Titans couldn't find the back of the net, despite three shots by sophomore Ryan Figueiras
• Quinnipiac totaled 16 shots in the quarter, nine landing on goal and eight going past Shamblin

Second Quarter:

• Turnbull took over in net for the Titans at the start of the quarter
• Quinnipiac scored a quick goal to go up 9-0
• The Titans got on the board three minutes into the period, when Lubin used a spin move in front of the net to sneak the ball past Quinnipiac goalie Nick DiMuccio
• Forty seconds later, Mendell made it two straight goals for the red, white and blue
• Detroit Mercy made it a six-goal game at the seven-minute mark, after Manuszak launched a deep shot that bounced into the net
• With three unanswered goals, the Titans sought to further cut the deficit but Quinnipiac answered with three consecutive goals of its own to take a 12-3 advantage
• In the final minute of play, Mendell picked up his second goal of the contest and the Titans went into the halftime break trailing 12-4

Third Quarter:

• After an early Quinnipiac goal, Mendell sunk his third goal of the game off a between-the-legs bounce pass from Vangalen with 12:42 left
• Freshman Cam Kostus pulled the Titans within eight with a goal in front of the net at the five-minute mark
• Detroit Mercy pieced together five straight shots spanning a 40-second stretch but Quinnipiac stood tall and kept the Titans out of the net the remainder of the period

Fourth Quarter:

• Detroit Mercy scored a pair of quick goals early in the period, as Erskine scored on a feed by Pickens and Manuszak rocketed home another goal from deep, this time on the man-up, in a span of 19 seconds
• Quinnipiac answered with 10:54 left to go up by seven, but Nigh trimmed the lead back to six with a goal 18 seconds later
• Mendell picked up his fourth goal of the contest with 9:31 remaining as Detroit Mercy had four of the past five goals scored in the quarter
• Unfortunately for the Titans, five goals was as close as they would get in the fourth, as Quinnipiac sealed the victory by scoring four unanswered goals

Game Notes:

• The Titans trail the all-time series, 10-2, and are 0-2 against Quinnipiac in the postseason
• The Titans are now 4-7 all-time in the MAAC Championship, winning the title in 2013 and advancing to the championship game in 2011 and 2018
• Detroit Mercy finished the season at 8-7, its third winning season in school history and a winning campaign for the second-straight year
• The Titans set their all-time win mark for conference games in a season last year at 5-1 and tied that win mark with five wins this year
• Vangalen ended his career with a career-high and school-record 55 points on 19 goals and a career-best and school record 32 assists 
• He also holds the school career mark with 77 assists and is second in school history with 153 points and third at 76 goals 
• Mendell led the team with 44 points - tied for sixth in school history - while his 37 goals are tied for second in school history, just five away from the school record
• Mendell's 33 total goals during the regular season led the MAAC
• His 97 career points is fifth in the school record book, while his 74 markers are fourth
• Manuszak posted 72 ground balls on the season, fifth in school history
• Akins finished his junior year with 41 career caused turnovers, tied for seventh in school history
• Horton ended his career with 34 caused turnovers, tied for 10th in school history
• It was the sixth time this season Jarzembowski has won 15 or more faceoffs
• His 21 wins are second to his school-record 27 against Bellarmine earlier in the year
• Jarzembowski broke his own school-record in season winning percentage (60.0 %) and wins (213) as is now the career winning percentage (56.5 %) and faceoff wins (450) leader
• Kostus ended the season fourth on the team with 24 points and third with 20 goals as a rookie