DETROIT (4/22/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team played in its first home game in nearly six weeks on a cold and windy day Thursday afternoon, with the visiting Kent State squad using a second-half run to earn the victory over the Titans, 17-12, from Titan Field.
The setback snapped the Titans' two-game win streak, as Detroit Mercy fell to 2-3 overall and in Mid-American Conference play.
Freshman attacker
Cat Kopchia tallied a career-high six points on four goals and two assists for the Titans to lead the way offensively. Kopchia had a hat trick and four points by the halftime break as the Titans led 7-6 after the first 30 minutes of play. Sophomore attacker
Marina Butler added her third-straight hat trick with three goals for the Titans, while sophomore attacker
Annie Gilbert had three points (one goal, two assists) and junior midfielder
Elise Harder posted two goals.
Kent State (4-8, 3-4 MAC) scored five of the first six goals of the game to lead 5-1 with 17:29 left in the opening half. That's when the Titans went on a run during the second part of the first half with Detroit Mercy scoring six consecutive goals. Kopchia answered KSU's fifth goal with her second goal of the game just 10 seconds later to open the 6-0 stretch.
After neither team could find the back of the net for the next 9 minutes, Harder scored to cut the deficit to 5-3, before senior midfielder
Taylor Cantelon grabbed the ensuing draw control and scored 14 seconds later off a free-position chance and Kopchia then scored her third goal at the 6:16 mark to tie the game, 5-5. Butler and Harder followed with goals to close out the run before the Golden Flashes scored the final goal of the half as the Titans led, 7-6, after 30 minutes of play.
Gilbert scored the first goal of the second half and then assisted on junior
Taryn McManus' goal as Detroit Mercy gained a 9-6 advantage. KSU would score four of the next five goals to knot the contest up, 10-10, with 16:48 remaining. Butler answered the run with a highlight-reel, behind-the-back goal as the Titans re-took the lead, 11-10, with 13:26 left.
The Golden Flashes used a run late in the contest, however, to pull away from the red, white and blue down the stretch.
Kent State held the edge in shots, 30-28, and shots on goal, 25-20. Both teams made eight saves in the contest, with sophomore goalie
Hannah Shrader tallying five saves in net for the Titans. Detroit Mercy had a 16-14 edge in draw controls in the contest with Cantelon leading the way with eight DC and McManus adding five draw controls for the red, white and blue.
The Titans forced 11 turnovers with four Titans -- Cantelon, junior
Claire Conway, freshman
Kaileigh Nuessgen and junior
Jess Turner -- recording two caused turnovers in the contest. Senior defender
Sarah Lucas had a team-best four ground balls and senior
Kristina Ellis, Kopchia and senior goalkeeper
Maddie Johnson all had three ground balls apiece.
Titan News & Notes
• Butler's behind-the-back goal was No. 9 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of the day Thursday evening.
• Kopchia has nine goals and 12 points in her first five games as a Titan.
• Harder has 17 goals on 25 shots this season (68.0% shot percentage) and led the country in that category entering Thursday's game.
• Cantelon has 32 draw controls in the past three games (10.7 per game) for the red, white and blue.
• Detroit Mercy opened a stretch of six games in 15 days to end the regular season.
• It was the second meeting all-time between the two programs in women's lacrosse (series tied, 1-1).
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the field on Saturday, hosting Akron for its Senior Day contest at 2 p.m. ET from Titan Field. The Titans are playing three-straight at home, also hosting Robert Morris on Wednesday, April 28 in Detroit. Saturday's contest is slated for an ESPN3.com broadcast.
