Box Score OLEAN, N.Y. (4/30/2021) -- A slow start had the Titans chasing the Bonnies early, but twice they were able to tie it up, but couldn't get the go-ahead goal as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team dropped an 11-8 decision at St. Bonaventure on Friday afternoon in the MAAC Championship quarterfinals.

Detroit Mercy (3-4) was the No. 3 seed in the tournament, but could not host due to its departure from the conference, giving St. Bonaventure (5-4) the home field advantage as the No. 6 seed. 

Senior Logan Shamblin made 10 saves in net and held the Bonnies scoreless for 22 minutes at one point.

Sophomore Ryan Birney had three goals, while senior Brett Erskine netted two goals and an assist. Senior Paul Manuszak had a goal with two caused turnovers and four ground balls, while senior Matt Turner and sophomore Kyle Loken also found the back of the net.

Graduate senior Alex Jarzembowski won nine faceoffs and picked up five ground balls and senior Ollie Nigh had four GB's.

St. Bonaventure scored first at the 10:49 mark, but off a fast break, Erskine was able to fine Manuszak for a goal to make it 1-1 with 2:48 left. The Bonnies, though, would end the first on a 4-0 run for a 5-1 lead. 

In the second, the Titans started to mount a comeback with two goals and were within 5-3 at the break. Detroit Mercy would then knot it at 5-5 with two goals in the third by Erskine and Birney, but St. Bonaventure scored to reclaim the lead, 6-5.

Loken would tie it at 6-6 with 6:64 left in the third, but then St. Bonaventure scored five-straight to open an 11-6 lead with just 10 minutes left. Birney and Turner added late goals, but the Titans could not make one final comeback. 

The Titans out-shot the Bonnies, 40-30, and saw them commit 18 turnovers.

The game was the final contest in the MAAC for the red, white and blue as they move into the Atlantic Sun Lacrosse League next season joining Air Force, Bellarmine, Cleveland State, Robert Morris and Utah. 

First Period:

• St. Bonaventure took a 1-0 lead at the 10:09 mark
• Shamblin made three saves to keep the Bonnies off the board
• Off some strong Titan defense that forced a bad pass, Detroit Mercy was able to knot it up as Erskine found Manuszak and he scored with 2:48 left
• St. Bonaventure then ended the period on a 4-0 run to jump in front, 5-1

Second Period:

• Shamblin had an early save
• Birney stopped the 4-0 run with a goal at the 9:12 mark
• Shamblin made two more stops and then Erskine got a pass from junior Matt Blevins and went inside for a goal to make it 5-3 with 2:42 to go
• The Titans had one more look at a goal with under 40 seconds, but could not get a shot off and the Bonnies tried to add to their score with a few seconds left, but Shamblin came up with a point-blank save to keep it at 5-3 at the break

Third Period:

• The Titans got on the board first in the second half as junior Jack Watsic found Erskine and he scored to make it 5-4 at 12:39
• Manuszak stopped one possession with a caused turnover and then Akins had another and when the Titans got the ball back, Birney was able to pick up a ground ball in front of the net and beat the keeper to make it 5-5 with 9:08 left
• St. Bonaventure was able to end its drought with a goal at 8:27, but the Titans would tie it again at 6-6 as Loken forced from the outside with just under seven minutes on the scoreboard
• Shamblin had one more save, but St. Bonaventure scored twice in the final two minutes to take an 8-6 advantage

Fourth Period:

• The Bonnies then added three goals in a three-minute span to take an 11-6 lead with just under 10 minutes left
• Birney added this hat trick goal with 3:08 left to get the squad within four, 11-7
• On the man-up, freshman Will Edell found Turner and he fired one in past the goalie and it was 11-8 with 2:18 remaining

Game Notes:

• The Titans lead the all-time series, 2-1
• The Titans are 4-8 all-time in the MAAC Championship, winning the title in 2013 and advancing to the championship game in 2011 and 2018
• Detroit Mercy is 1-5 all-time as the No. 3 seed and has dropped five straight as the No. 3 seed with its lone win its first-ever MAAC playoff game, 9-8, over Marist in 2011
• Shamblin now has 27 games with double-digit saves in his career
• Jarzembowski ended his career as the Titans' all-time faceoff leader in every category with a career-winning percentage of .567 tallying 632 victories and is second in school history with 217 ground balls and 3.89 ground balls per game.
• Manuszak - the two-time MAAC LSM of the Year now has 39 caused turnovers - ninth in school history - and 156 ground balls - seventh in the record book - in his career to go with 11 goals and 16 points
• Erskine is now fourth in school history with 110 points, fifth with 71 goals and seventh with 39 assists
• Akins ended his career sixth in school history with 52 caused turnovers and collected up 79 ground balls, while playing in 59 career games - tied for seventh in school history - with 54 starts - fifth in the record book
• Turner ended his career with 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points and 29 ground balls 
• Nigh ended his career with 82 ground balls, nine caused turnovers, six goals and two assists
• Birney now has three career hat tricks, two this season as he scored three goals against St. Bonaventure in the regular-season match-up