BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (4/30/2022) -- It was a seesaw affair for the last playoff spot as a contest that featured six ties and five lead changes came down to the very end, but the University of Detroit Mercy could not take control as the Titans dropped a 16-15 heartbreaker to Kent State on Saturday.

It was the final game for the eight-women senior class in Emily Beazley, Taylor Cantelon, Claire Conway, Elise Harder, Maddie Johnson, Taryn McManus, Julianne Snyder and Jess Turner. 

With the win, Kent State (6-11, 3-7 MAC) will move onto the MAC Championships, while Detroit Mercy's (2-13, 2-8 MAC) season came to an end. 

Redshirt sophomore Charlotte Dale led the way with four goals and an assist, while junior Annie Gilbert tallied three goals. Senior Elise Harder had two goals, two assists and 11 draw controls, while senior Taylor Cantelon had a goal to go with seven draw controls.

Senior Taryn McManus recorded two goals and two ground balls and graduate senior Maddie Johnson made six saves in net. 

The Titans tied the game at 10-10 and 11-11, but found themselves down 16-14 with 3:51 left. McManus would get the red, white and blue back within one, 16-15, scoring a goal with 2:16 remaining. Cantelon then won the draw control to give the Titans a chance to tie, but one shot hit the post and another was saved as Kent State then ran the clock out.

Detroit Mercy won the draw control battle, 21-14, but was outshot 35-33 and lost on ground balls, 21-16. The Titans were also 8-of-10 on clears.

Detroit Mercy trailed 2-0 early when it went ahead with three-straight goals. First Butler found Harder for a score and then 30 seconds later, Gilbert tied the game on a free-position goal. Harder would set up McManus for the first Titan lead of the day with 4:34 left in the period.

Kent State went ahead 4-3 after one, but Dale would knot the score at 4-4 midway through the second before the Golden Flashes took a 6-4 advantage at the break.

The Titans trailed 8-5 in the third when they went on a 4-0 run to jump back in front. Kopchia assisted on the first two goals finding Harder for a score at 8:05 and then sophomore Sarah Meek at 7:19. Butler tied the game at 8-8 with 5:05 on the clock and again a free position goal, this time by Dale, had the team up 9-8 with 4:12 left.

Kent State once again score late for a 10-9 lead after three, but Gilbert tied it at 10-10 early in the fourth. She also tied it at 11-11 with 11:37 left. From there, Kent State would have a two-goal lead on four occasions as the Titans tried to climb back in front.

Game Notes:

• Kent State leads the overall series, 4-1, including 2-1 on the road
• The Titans came into the game second in the league and 41st in the nation with 14.79 draw controls per game, while standing third in the conference winning 50.1% of their draws 
• Harder ended her career with 165 draw controls for second in school history and 93 goals and 14 assists for 107 career points as she is 10th in school history with 2.06 per game
• Cantelon ended her career with 153 career draw controls for fourth in school history and her 3.97 draw controls per game are second in the school record book
• Harder's 77 draw controls are tied for the second-most in school history, while Cantelon's 72 are fifth
• McManus had 52 career caused turnovers for eighth in school history, 
• Dale had four hat tricks on the year with the three goals at Akron and the back-to-back hat tricks with a career-high six points on three goals and three assists against Akron and three goals with two helpers versus St. Bonaventure 
• Conway played in 50 career games with 48 starts and has totaled 58 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers
• Johnson totaled 140 career saves in 36 games
• Kopchia ended the year leading the team in scoring with 39 points and 16 assists and finishing second with 23 goals, with her 16 assists tied for 10th in school history

  Read Full Article