DETROIT (4/26/2023) -- Sophomore Leah Bodnar found the back of the net five times en route to a career-high six points and junior Cat Kopchia added a hat trick as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team was edged by first-place Kent State, 16-15, on Wednesday evening at Titan Field.

Bodnar also had a career-high seven draw controls. Kopchia scored three goals with an assist and senior Charlotte Dale posted two goals and a helper.

Senior Kiah Nuessgen recorded a career-high three caused turnovers and sophomore Maddy Camm had a caused turnover, four draw controls, two ground balls, a goal and an assist.

In a game that featured six ties and three lead changes, the Titans (3-10, 2-5 MAC) found themselves down by four, 16-12, with eight minutes left when the red, white and blue made a spirited run at a win. 

Sophomore Meredith Leavell made a save and that started a fast break attempt, ending with Bodnar's fourth goal of the day, and it was 16-13 with 6:24 on the clock. Another save by Leavell got the Titans going again as junior Ella Brandt finished the possession with a goal and it was 16-14 with 2:43 left.

Freshman Ysa Pakowski would win the next draw control, leading to the Titans firing a couple of shots. Brandt would earn a free position and her shot was blocked, but she was able to retrieve the ground ball and find Bodnar, who beat the keeper for her fifth to get the team within one, 16-15, with 1:16 remaining. 

Kent State (9-7, 6-1 MAC) would win the final draw control and the Golden Flashes were able to play keep away to get the win,

Senior Marina Butler ended with two goals and Brandt had a goal and an assist. Freshman Alyssa Jarvis had a goal and a season-high five draw controls and Leavell made seven saves and picked up a team-high five ground balls. 

Detroit Mercy started the scoring with goals from Dale and Bodnar just three minutes into the game. Kent State responded with three goals, but Butler knotted it at 3-3 with a goal at the 8:42 mark.

Dake and Camm then went back-to-back to give the team a 5-4 lead with 3:29 left in the first period, but the Golden Flashes would net one late for a 5-5 tie after the first.

After KSU took a 7-5 lead, senior Annie Gilbert found Kopchia for her first with 8:55 on the clock and almost two minutes later, Kopchia scored on the free position and it was 7-7. The Golden Flashes would go up by two again, 9-7, but Bodnar found Butler for a score at the 3:18 mark and Camm fed Jarvis with 1:37 remaining and it was tied at 9-9 at the break.

Kent State would take a three-goal advantage in the third, 12-9, but Kopchia located Bodnar and her score made it 12-10 with under a minute to go in the third. Bodnar would pull the team again within two, 13-11, with her fourth marker just 20 seconds into the fourth. The Titans were also down by three, 15-12, as Dale set up Kopchia with the extra-women attacker with 9:37 to go.

Detroit Mercy outshot Kent State, 34-27, and also won the battle of ground balls (18-17) and draw controls (19-16).

The Titans will end the regular season on the road at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, with game time set for 4:30 p.m.

Game Notes: 

• The Titans trail the overall series, 5-1, and are 1-3 at home with the win a 16-12 decision in 2019
• The last Titan to have five goals was Annie Gilbert, who had five against Akron last year
• Bodnar has now posted multiple goals in seven of her last nine games and eight times in her career
• Bodnar's previous career-high in goals was three at Akron, while her career-high in draw controls was five against Canisius
• Kopchia now has eight hat tricks in her career 
• Nuessgen's previous career-high in caused turnovers was two, accomplished five times
• Jarvis has found the back of the net in six games on the year
• Brandt has scored a goal in four of the last five games after having just two career goals coming into the season

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