DETROIT (4/7/2024) -- In a game that featured seven ties and four lead changes, one final run by Eastern Michigan was the difference as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team was clipped by the Eagles, 12-9, on Sunday afternoon at Titan Field.

It was the annual Pink Game, and at halftime, the Titans recognized a pair of parents who had battled cancer. 

Senior Cat Kopchia scored a team-high four goals - including the 100th of her career. Junior Maddy Camm had two goals, two caused turnovers and a ground ball and sophomore Libby Cuckler tallied a career-high three assists.

Junior Meredith Leavell made nine saves and picked up a career-high nine ground balls - the second most in school history - and senior Abby Schillinger registered a goal, an assist and a caused turnover. 

A back-and-forth contest saw the Titans (3-10, 2-2 MAC) knot the game at 9-9 with 7:28 left as Cuckler found Kopchia and she buried her fourth of the game.

From there, Eastern Michigan (6-5, 3-0 MAC) had back-to-back goals within a minute span for an 11-9 lead at the 5:57 mark and EMU added another with 1:11 remaining.

The Titans won the battle of ground balls, 22-17, were 22-of-25 on clears and saw Eastern Michigan turn it over 15 times.

Graduate senior Kiah Nuessgen picked up a career-high four ground balls and junior Katie Bilello had three, while sophomore Alyssa Jarvis had a goal, two ground balls and a caused turnover. 

Junior Leah Bodnar started the scoring for UDM with a goal at the 8:40 mark to tie it at 1-1. The Titans then netted three-straight goals for a 4-3 advantage as Camm got one with under a minute left in the first and Schillinger and Kopchia had strikes early in the second.

Leavell made three saves after that, but Eastern Michigan was able to send the game into the half tied at 4-4. 

A save by Leavell to start the third set up Jarvis' goal for a 5-4 lead with 13:23 on the clock and a Camm goal off a pass from graduate senior Marina Butler with 1:21 left in the period evened it at 6-6 going into the fourth.

The red, white and blue took a 7-6 lead in the opening minute of the final period as Schillinger found Kopchia and she beat the goalie, but the Eagles answered with three in a row. Kopchia then got the game back to even as she took a pass from Cuckler and fired one in at the 9:27 mark to make it 9-8, and a little over a minute later, the duo hooked up again to square it at 9-9. 

UDM will have a week off before heading to Akron next Sunday.

Game Notes: 

• Eastern Michigan now leads the young all-time series, 2-1, as the Titans beat the Eagles at home last year, 17-7
• Detroit Mercy came into the game third in the MAC and 59th in DI with 15.8 ground balls per game
• Camm now has a caused turnover in every game this season, including five straight and nine games with two or more
• Camm has now scored a goal in 11 games this season, with four multi-goal contests
• Kopchia now has 10 games on the year with three or more goals and 18 in her career 
• Kopchia is now ninth in school history with 133 points- two shy of seventh place - on 103 goals and 31 assists, seventh in school history in goals and ninth in assists
• Kopchia currently tops the team with 46 points - second in the MAC - and 42 goals - second in the league and 33rd in the nation, career highs in both stats
• Leavell is currently fourth in school history with 326 saves, fourth with 8.58 saves per game, third at a .430 save percentage and fourth with a 14.22 goals-against average
• Leavell's previous career-high in ground balls was six at Xavier last year, while her nine GB's were the most by a Titan the school-record 10 by Allison McDonough at Stetson in 2017
• Butler now has 45 career assists, fourth in school history and seven shy of third place 
• Butler now has 94 points on 49 goals and 44 assists
• Schillinger now has five goals and six points on the year after coming into the year with just two goals and two assists
• Jarvis now has 17 goals and 19 points after a freshman season that saw her post 10 goals and three assists

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