JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (2/1/2020) -- Redshirt freshman Kyle Waters scored five goals and junior Brett Erskine scored four as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team once trailed 5-0 only to come back and post a 15-14 season-opening victory at Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon. The five-goal comeback is tied for the biggest in school history. 

The five goals and six points by Waters was the most ever by a Titan playing in his first game, while Erskine added an assist for five points. Sophomore Cam Kostus scored two goals and junior Logan Shamblin made seven saves in net, including one with time winding down.

The contest was tied at 14-14 with less than five minutes to go when the Titans killed off two extra-man opportunities before Waters fired in the game-winner with 1:45 on the clock. 

After that, the Titans had to stave off another one minute penalty and they did so as junior Paul Manuszak came up with a caused turnover and one final stop as Shamblin made his seventh save with time expiring.

Manuszak finished with five ground balls and senior Alex Jarzembowski was 18-of-33 on faceoffs with three GB's. 

The Titans outshot Jacksonville, 40-34, and were 15-of-19 in the clearing game. 

Detroit Mercy (1-0) saw Jacksonville (0-1) score the game's first five goals in the first eight minutes of play and trailed 6-3 after one and 10-7 at the break.

In the third, the Titans came right back with four unanswered to jump out in front, 11-10, as sophomore AJ Van Voorhis tied the game at 10-10 with 7:41 on the clock and Waters put the team ahead at the 3:38 mark.

In the fourth, Jacksonville came back with a 4-0 run to go up 14-11 with 9:30 left, but the Titans never quit as Erskine scored and 40 seconds later, junior Ryan Figueras found the back of the net to make it 14-13 with 7:47 left. Freshman Ryan Birney then set up Waters on a goal to tie it at 14-14 with 5:04 remaining. 

The red, white and blue will now get ready for another tough road game as they head to nationally-ranked Ohio State on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game.

First Period:

• Jarzembowski won the first faceoff on a violation
• Jacksonville scored the game's first marker two minutes in and took a 5-0 lead with six minutes left in the period
• Off a faceoff win by Jarzembowski, Erskine was able to take a pass from Nigh and rip one past the keeper at the 5:43 mark
• Nearly a minute later, Waters was able to beat the keeper to cut the deficit to 5-2
• Shamblin made his first save at 3:17
• Detroit Mercy then took advantage of a penalty and Waters scored again on the main-up with 3:38 remaining

Second Period:

• Kostus pulled the team within two, 6-4, early in the second
• Shamblin made saves at 14:35 and 12:11
• Using the man-up again, Kostus netted his second goal to make it 8-5 with 5:35 left
• Shamblin made a huge save and that started a fast break as Erskine fed Mendell and he scored with 4:55 remaining
• After a Jacksonville goal, Erskine made his defender fall and found the back of the net to pull the squad within two again, 9-7, with 3:01 on the clock

Third Period:

• After the Titans won a battle for a ground ball, Erskine netted his hattrick third goal early in the period to make it 10-8
• Detroit Mercy then got within one, 10-9, at 12:40 as freshman Ryan Birney was able to tickle the twine
• Shamblin made his fifth save at 11:07 and another at 9:47
• Van Voorhis tied the game at 10-10, getting past his defender and beating the goal at the 7:45 mark
• Waters put the Titans ahead off a pass from Birney at 3:38

Fourth Period:

• The Dolphins started the period with a 4-0 run for a 14-11 lead with under 10 minutes left
• Off a faceoff win, Erskine scored at 8:27 to stop that run
• Junior Ryan Figueras then took a pass from Waters and scored to make it a one-goal game, 14-13, at the 7:47 mark
• Detroit Mercy would knot the game at 14-14 as Waters netted another marker at the 5:04 mark
• The Titans fought off a 30-second and a one-minute penalty before Waters put them ahead for good with 1:46 on the clock
• After that, the Titans won a faceoff but a turnover gave the Dolphins the ball and Manuszak had to come up with a caused turnover with 40 seconds remaining to keep Jacksonville off the scoreboard
• The Dolphins fired one last shot on goal with time expiring and Shamblin made the save

Game Notes:

• This was the seventh career meeting between Jacksonville and Detroit Mercy, with the Titans owning a 4-3 advantage, with this the first win at Jacksonville
• The Titans are now 17-19 all-time against current teams from the Southern Conference
• Detroit Mercy is 4-8 all-time in season openers, but this was the first-ever road-opening win
• The Titans now have four programs wins when they have trailed by five goals in a contest
• The 29 combined goals in the game is tied for the most in school history as the Titans have done it three other times 
• Erskine now has four career hat tricks
• Kostus had seven extra-man markers last season, tied for the team and conference lead and 12th in the NCAA
• Jarzembowski has now won double-digit faceoffs in 28 career games and 10 games with 15 or more faceoffs