MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (3/30/2024) -- Junior
Meredith Leavell made two early stops and senior
Cat Kopchia and graduate senior
Marina Butler had back-to-back goals to ignite a 5-0 run as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team stayed hot with its third-straight win, 12-9, at Robert Morris on Saturday.
Kopchia ended with five points on the strength of four goals, while junior
Leah Bodnar added four scores. Butler finished with markers and junior
Maddy Camm tallied two assists, a goal, two caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control.
After taking that 2-0 lead just five minutes in, Detroit Mercy (3-8, 2-1 MAC) took advantage of a foul and sophomore
Alyssa Jarvis put in the free position shot. Bodnar then had two straight scores as she took a pass from Camm for the first, and after Camm caused a turnover, she fired one past the goalie with under a minute to go for the five-goal lead.
UDM would have another five-goal advantage at 7-3 in the second as Bodnar got her hat trick, and Kopchia scored again off the free position with 5:26 left.
In the third, Robert Morris (3-8, 2-1 MAC) tried to get back in it, but the Titans always had an answer. Camm scored with the extra attacker early in the period and Butler followed to make it a 9-4 game. After a RMU goal, Camm won the draw control and Kopchia beat the goalie for a 10-5 score and Kopchia netted a goal off the free position for an 11-5 margin with 7:28 left.
The final goal of the game was by Bodnar as she stopped any hope of a Colonials comeback by firing it to the back of the net for a 12-8 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Leavell ended with 12 saves and four ground balls. Jarvis brought in three draw controls and senior
Sarah Meek had two draws and a ground ball.
The Titans outshot Robert Morris, 30-27, and also saw RMU turn it over 16 times, compared to just eight for the red, white and blue. UDM won the battle of ground balls, 17-10, and were 17-of-18 on clears.
Detroit Mercy will step outside conference play as it hosts Arizona State on Tuesday.
Game Notes:
- The Titans ended a six-game slide, but UDM still trails the all-time series, 9-2
- UDM won for the first time on the road in the match-up (5-1)
- This is the first three-game winning streak for the Titans since taking four in a row during the 2019 campaign
- The eight turnovers were the fewest since committing just seven at Eastern Michigan last year
- After averaging 19 turnovers in its first nine games, the Titans have turned it over just 17 times in the last two contests
- Camm now has at least one caused turnover in every game this season, including seven with at least two and has now scored a goal in 10-straight games
- Kopchia registered her eighth-straight hat trick, her ninth of the season and 17th in her career
- Kopchia has scored at least two goals in every game this season and 13 straight dating back to last year
- Kopchia moved into eighth place in school history with 98 goals and is ninth in the record book with 129 points, six shy of eighth place
- Leavell now has 17 career double-digit save performances
- Leavell has 313 career saves, fourth in school history and 33 shy of third place
- Bodnar has tallied a hat trick in three straight games and seven times in her career
- Bodnar has 12 goals in the last three games after posting six in her first eight games
