AKRON, Ohio (4/14/2024) -- The Titans ended the game with four straight goals, but just could not get one more as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team was edged at Akron, 11-10, on Sunday afternoon.
Senior
Ella Brandt had a career day with six points on four goals and two assists, while senior
Cat Kopchia had three goals and a helper. Junior
Leah Bodnar tallied a hat trick with three markers, and junior
Maddy Camm posted five draw controls, a career-tying three caused turnovers, two ground balls, and two assists.
Sophomore
Alyssa Jarvis pulled down a game-high eight draws and junior
Meredith Leavell made six saves.
The Titans (3-11, 2-3 MAC) were down 11-6 with just over six minutes remaining when they staged another comeback attempt. Senior
Sarah Meek started the rally with a caused turnover, and that led to a goal from Bodnar. Jarvis won the next draw and UDM scored again as graduate senior
Marina Butler found Brandt to pull the team within three, 11-8, with 5:05 left.
A couple of minutes later, Kopchia netted a goal on the free position to make it 11-9, and once again, the Titans won the draw as freshman
Erin Balbontin got the ball, and that led to Jarvis finding a cutting Brandt and her strike trimmed it to one, 11-10, with 2:28 remaining.
Akron (6-8, 1-3 MAC) would win the next draw, but the Titans were able to get the ball back off a turnover. However, the red, white and blue could not find the back of the net to tie it up.
Detroit Mercy outshot the Zips, 29-21, had a 15-11 margin on draw controls and was 13-of-14 on clears.
The Titans saw Akron score the first four goals of the game until Kopchia ended that on the extra attacker at the 4:40 mark. The Zips answered with two more for a 6-1 lead early in the second. Brandt and Kopchia netted goals, but Akron took an 8-3 lead at the break.
UDM started a comeback in the third with three straight as a save from Leavell led to Brandt locating Bodnar for a goal. Brandt then scored on woman-up and off a draw by Jarvis, Camm found Bodnar and it was an 8-6 contest with 6:55 to go.
The Zips ran their lead to 11-6 in the fourth when the Titans tried to rally one more time.
Detroit Mercy will be back in action next Sunday, April 21, when it hosts Kent State on Senior Day. First draw is set for 1:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
- The Titans lead the all-time match-up 4-2, and are now 3-1 on the road
- Five of the six games have been decided by four goals or less, with three by just one marker and a double overtime contest
- Camm now has 28 caused turnovers on the season to move to eighth in school history in a single season, two away from fifth place
- Camm now has a caused turnover in every game this season, including six straight and 10 games with two or more as she came into the game leading the MAC and 20th in the nation with 1.92 per game
- Camm also had three caused turnovers against Arizona State, at Canisius and at Pittsburgh
- It was Kopchia's 11th hat trick of the season and 19th of her career
- Kopchia moved past Corina Mahorn and Zaynib Hamze into seventh place in school history with 138 points, while her 106 goals are already seventh
- Kopchia's 45 goals on the year are tied for ninth in school history
- Bodnar has now tallied a hat trick in four of the last six and five of the last eight games
- Bodnar now has a career-high 22 goals on the year
- Leavell now has 332 career saves
- Kopchia's 13 women-up goals are one away from tying Kaitlyn Wandelt for the most in school history
- Jarvis' career-high in draw controls is 11 at Central Michigan as she now has 59 draws on the season, seventh in the Titan record book
- Brandt's previous career-high in points and goals was three at Eastern Michigan last year
