AKRON, Ohio (4/12/2023) -- Sophomore Meredith Leavell made one final save as the clock struck zero to put the game away as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team defeated Akron, 11-10, on the road on Wednesday evening.

Leavell posted 11 saves and four ground balls to earn the win. Junior Cat Kopchia tallied a season-high and career-tying four goals, while junior Leah Bodnar tied her career-best with three goals, including two in the fourth quarter and what proved to be the game-winner, along with four ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover. 

Senior Annie Gilbert scored two goals and sophomore Maddy Camm recorded a goal, two caused turnovers, two draw controls and a career-best four ground balls.

The Titans (3-7, 2-2 MAC) led 11-10 with 2:32 left in the game when Akron (1-12, 0-4 MAC) made one charge at the win. Leavell tallied a save with 2:11 on the clock and then stood tall, making one final stop as the Zips had a free-position shot with one second on the clock. 

Detroit Mercy started out quickly, taking a 4-0 lead after the first period. Kopchia got the first off a pass from freshman Alyssa Jarvis just three minutes into the game. Redshirt junior Charlotte Dale then fed Gilbert and her score made it 2-0 with 8:13 left.

After Leavell stuffed Akron with a pair of saves, senior Marina Butler found Kopchia, who beat the goalie to make it 3-0 at the 6:19 mark. The defense set up the offense again as Camm had a caused turnover and that led to Kopchia scoring her third with 2:31 to go. 

The run swelled to five straight early in the second as Bodnar won the draw and fired one in for a 5-0 advantage. After an Akron score, junior Ella Brandt was awarded a free position and she made the Zips pay with her second marker of the season, and it was 6-1 midway through the period.

Akron would come back to knot it at 6-6, but Butler found Gilbert and her strike had the team back up, 7-6, with 10:29 left in the third. It was 7-7 late in the period when Kopchia earned the free position with just two seconds on the clock and she ripped in her fourth of the contest as time expired to put the team ahead, 8-7.

Bodnar would give the Titans a 9-7 lead with a free-position marker with 11:16 left in the game. After a Zips score, Camm netted one on the free position with 8:05 remaining for a 10-8 lead and Bodnar made it 11-9 with a goal with 3:42 on the clock after Jarvis won a draw control.

Jarvis and senior Jess Turner had two ground balls and sophomore Katie Bilello registered a career-tying two caused turnovers and two GB's. 

The Titans were outshot, 29-28, and lost the ground ball battle, 30-26, but forced 22 turnovers, were 14-of-16 on clears and 4-of-6 on free-position shots. 

The win has the team tied for fourth in the MAC standings. 

The red, white and blue will return home as they host Central Michigan on Saturday. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., and it will be Senior Day as the Titans honor their senior class before the game.

Game Notes:

• The Titans lead the all-time series, 4-1, and are 3-0 all-time on the road in the match-up
• Leavell came into the game leading the MAC and seventh in the nation with 10.67 saves per game
• Leavell has posted double-digit saves in six games this season, and in eight of her 21 career games, with her career-best 17 saves against Butler at home earlier in the year, tied for 10th in school history
• Kopchia now has seven career hat tricks and has scored a goal in 11 straight games dating back to last season and 26 of her 32 career contests
• Kopchia has three other four-goal efforts, with her last against Marquette last year
• Butler notched five assists against Akron last season
• Gilbert has now scored a goal in 18 of her last 24 games, with markers in five-straight
• Bodnar has posted multiple goals in six-straight games and seven times in her career as her other three-goal game was at Central Michigan
• Bilello also had two caused turnovers against Canisius and at Xavier and at Akron last season
• Brandt has scored a goal in two-straight games after having just two career goals coming into the season 

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