CLEVELAND (4/29/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team finished the game with six-straight goals, but the late comeback wasn't enough as the Titans dropped a 14-12 decision at Cleveland State on Saturday.
Senior
Luke Majick netted four goals with an assist, while sophomore
Nolan Graalman tied his career-high with three goals. Freshman
Drew Kessenich posted two goals and sophomore
Aidan Bishop had a goal and a helper.
Senior
Tyler Hart made 12 saves and had three ground balls. Senior
Kyle Loken registered two caused turnovers and two ground balls and sophomore
Will Marshall picked up a career-high four GB's.
The Titans (2-11, 2-7 ASUN) trailed 14-6 when the rally started as senior
Ivan Progar found Graalman and he beat the keeper with 8:28 left. Nearly five minutes later, after two saves from Hart, Graalman ripped one past the goalie again and it was 14-8 with 3:19 remaining.
Majick found the back of the net with 2:01 on the clock and after a faceoff win, Bishop found senior
Ryan Birney and his marker had the team down just 14-10 with 1:40 left. A faceoff win by sophomore
Billy Hart led to Majick finding Graalman for his third goal with 53 ticks left and the ensuing faceoff went to Hart again on a violation, and that saw Kessenich fire one in for a 14-12 contest with 48 seconds left.
That was as close as Detroit Mercy would get as Cleveland State (6-7, 4-5 ASUN) would pull out the win.
Hart won a career-tying 10-of-19 faceoffs and had a team-high five ground balls. Kessenich tallied four GB's and Birney added three. Redshirt freshman
Eoghan Mullett and freshman
Joe Janda each had a caused turnover and two GB's.
The Titans outshot CSU, 45-38, and won the battle of ground balls, 38-34. Detroit Mercy was 21-of-23 on clears and had just 14 turnovers in the contest.
Game Notes:
- Detroit Mercy now trails the all-time series, 3-2, and is 0-3 all-time on the road in the match-up
- Birney ended his career with 62 points and 51 goals and seven hat tricks
- Hart posted a season-high 14 saves against Bellarmine and had a career-high 15 at High Point last season
- Kessenich ended the year tied for the team lead with 31 points and was second with 21 goals and 10 assists
- Majick finished the season tied for the team lead with 31 points, led the squad with 11 assists and was third with 20 goals
- Majick's career-high is seven points and four goals at Mercer earlier in the year
- Last season against Cleveland State, Majick had three goals and four points, earning ASUN Player Of The Week, as his final two goals inside 50 seconds tied the game and then gave the Titans a 13-12 lead with 23 seconds remaining
- Graalman's other hat trick was three goals against Utah
- Loken ended his career with nine goals, 19 caused turnovers and 67 ground balls
- Hart also won 10 faceoffs at Jacksonville earlier in the year, while his career-high in ground balls was six against CSU last season
