DETROIT (3/13/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse program opened its home schedule on a sunny day from Titan Field on Saturday, with the Titans falling to visiting Youngstown State, 12-7. It was the first of five contests at home in 2021 for the Titans, which includes a stretch of four of five in Detroit through April 10.

Detroit Mercy (0-2, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) was led offensively by senior attacker Kamryn Corraro, who had two goals and three points, junior midfielder Elise Harder with two goals and junior midfielder Taryn McManus, who had team-highs with four assists and four points. McManus also had four draw controls for the Titans.

Titan senior Taylor Cantelon had a game-high-tying five draw controls for the Titans, which held the advantage in draw controls, 11-10. Defensively, senior defender Sarah Lucas had three ground balls and three caused turnovers, while freshman Kaileigh Nuessgen had three ground balls and one caused turnover for the red, white and blue. McManus added two caused turnovers. 

YSU had the advantage on the scoreboard early in the contest, scoring the first five goals to take a 5-0 lead. Titan sophomore Charlotte Dale then scored her first collegiate goal off a feed from senior Kamryn Corraro at the 20-minute mark of the first half. Sophomore attacker Annie Gilbert and Corraro then both scored later in the half -- both off feeds from McManus -- as the Titans cut the deficit to 7-3.

The Titans came out of the halftime break with momentum as Titan sophomore Caitlin O'Brien scored her first collegiate goal just 1:10 into the second half and it was followed shortly thereafter by Corraro's second goal of the contest.

Defense from both teams took over for the next 15 minutes of the game as neither team could find the back of the net. Sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Shrader had three saves during this stretch before YSU ended the drought with 13:47 left on the clock to go ahead, 10-5.

The Titans would answer, however, as Harder scored off a feed from McManus as the red, white and blue trailed by just four, 10-6, with 13:09 remaining. YSU would score the next two goals of the contest to stretch its lead to 12-6 with 8:22 remaining. The Titans would score with 2:30 left in the contest as senior Kristina Ellis found Harder, who scored her second of the contest, but it would prove to be the final goal of the game.

In net for the Titans, senior GK Maddie Johnson made seven saves in the first half, while sophomore GK Hannah Shrader made five saves, playing the final 30 minutes for the Titans.

YSU had the edge in shots, 28-23, and shots on goal, 24-18. Detroit Mercy assisted on all seven of its goals and went 21-for-27 on clear attempts (77.8%) in the contest.

It was the first meeting between the two women's lacrosse programs, who are close rivals in most other sports in Horizon League play. Detroit Mercy was playing its first game from Titan Field in 367 days since a home contest against Marquette on March 11, 2020, just before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down collegiate and professional sports across the country.

Up Next
The Titans return to the field next Saturday, hosting Robert Morris in a 3 p.m. ET contest from Titan Field. The game is set to be streamed live on ESPN-Plus.