Detroit Mercy UDM 6-11, 3-3 MAC

Central Michigan CMU 5-13, 5-1 MAC

Detroit Mercy UDM

6-11, 3-3 MAC

Final

May. 02, 2024

Central Michigan CMU

5-13, 5-1 MAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Detroit Mercy UDM	6	0	3	2	11
Central Michigan CMU	2	2	3	3	10

Summary
Box Score

Jack Reeber

The Titans ousted top-seeded Central Michigan to reach the MAC Championship

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | 05.02.24

Going To The 'Ship As Titans Scratch Out A Thriller Over Top-Seeded Central Michigan

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (5/2/2024) -- The Titans hit the post once with 14 seconds left, but would not be denied as senior Cat Kopchia picked up the ground ball and fired another one that got by the Central Michigan goalie with six seconds remaining to send the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team to the MAC Championship after a thrilling 11-10 win over the top-seeded Chippewas.

UDM will now face second-seeded Robert Morris for the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, woth game time set for Noon.

Kopchia finished with five points on three goals and two assists. Junior Leah Bodnar tallied four goals and senior Ella Brandt added two. Junior Meredith Leavell made a career-high 18 saves and junior Maddy Camm had two caused turnovers, four ground balls and a team-high seven draw controls.

The game was tied at 10-10 with 4:27 left and both teams had chances in the final four minutes but turned it over as Bodnar had a takeaway with under a minute to go that was followed by a green card on the Chippewas.

That is when the Titans started their final possession, which would lead to the game-winner as sophomore Libby Cuckler's shot hit the post and Kopchia got the ground ball and beat the netminder low.

The fourth-seeded Titans (6-11) saw the regular season champions score first, but the red, white and blue went on a 6-0 run after that. Graduate senior Marina Butler got the first one and after Camm won the draw and a foul was called, Bodnar scored on the free position for a 2-1 lead just five minutes in.

A save by Leavell and another foul on the Chippewas (5-14) saw Brandt bury a free position and a draw by sophomore Alyssa Jarvis set up Bodnar and she beat the keeper for a 4-1 lead at the 4:40 mark. Another draw win by Camm saw Kopchia finish it with a goal and she won again at the draw, and after a foul by CMU, Kopchia whipped in the free position and it was 6-1 with 2:52 left in the first.

Central Michigan would cut into that lead and knot it all up at 6-6 in the third, but a save from Leavell saw Jarvis find the back of the net and another save from Leavell led to a free position for Brandt and she tallied a goal for an 8-6 advantage at the 5:23 mark. Bodnar added a marker with 15 ticks remaining as the Titans led 9-7 after three.

CMU would tie the game at 9-9, but after a three-minute possession for the Chippewas that saw Leavell make two saves, the Titans went back in front, 10-9, as Kopchia located Bodnar and she netted her fourth of the contest with 5:15 left.

Junior Katie Bilello had a caused turnover and three ground balls and Jarvis added a caused turnover, two draw controls and two ground balls.

The Titans were 3-of-3 on the free position and held CMU to 1-of-5.

Game Notes:

Detroit Mercy is 10-12 all-time in the postseason throughout the years and last won a postseason contest in 2016 in the Atlantic Sun Championship as it downed Mercer in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Jacksonville in the semifinals, before falling to second-seeded Old Dominion in overtime
The Titans ended a seven-game slide to Central Michigan as CMU leads the series, 7-5, but UDM is 3-4 all-time on the road
Kopchia now has 14 hat tricks on the season and 22 in her career
The MAC Offensive Player of the Year, Kopchia tops the team with 66 points, 10th in school history, and 58 goals, sixth in the Titan record book and the most since Kaitlyn Wandelt's 62 in 2018
Kopchia has scored a goal in all 17 games, with 16 at two or more, 14 with three or more, seven with four or more, three with at least five.
Kopchia is now seventh in school history with 154 points on 119 goals, while her 35 assists are eighth
Camm now has a caused turnover in every game this season, including nine straight and 13 games with two or more as she leads the MAC and is 17th in the nation with 2.06 per game
Camm's career-high in draw controls is 11 in the win over Kennesaw State
Camm now has 35 caused turnovers on the year, fourth in school history and three shy of third, while her 58 caused turnovers are eighth in school history
Bodnar has picked up the offense as the season has gone on, tallying a hat trick in seven of the last nine and eight of the last 11 games
Bodnar - who is now a two-time All-MAC selection - has 11 games in her career with three or more goals
Butler has scored a goal in 11 games this season and now has 99 points on 52 goals and 47 assists - fourth in school history
Leavell now has nine games on the year with double-digit saves and 19 in her career
She just has 17 saves at Butler and her 18 stops are tied for sixth in school history and the most since Lexie McCormick had 18 at Notre Dame in 2015
Leavell now has 175 saves on the year, fifth in school history and just seven away from the school record of 181 by Brett Yenger in 2010 and Lexie McCormick in 2014

Check out the game-winning goal after the Titans hit the post three times in the second half, Kopchia with the game winner with 6 seconds left #DetroitsCollegeTeam #MACtion @ILWomen @Inside_Lacrosse @USALacrosseMag @NCAALAX pic.twitter.com/VgmP44CKfC
— Detroit Mercy WLAX (@DetroitWLAX) May 2, 2024

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Scoring Summary
Scoring Play	Home Team Score
1st Period		UDM	CMU
14:17	CMU - Celia Dow	0	1
10:43	UDM - Marina Butler	1	1
09:55	UDM - Leah Bodnar	2	1
05:26	UDM - Ella Brandt Assisted by Cat Kopchia	3	1
04:40	UDM - Leah Bodnar	4	1
03:50	UDM - Cat Kopchia	5	1
02:52	UDM - Cat Kopchia	6	1
01:07	CMU - Celia Dow	6	2
2nd Period		UDM	CMU
13:25	CMU - Makenna Huhn Assisted by Skye DePrado	6	3
01:55	CMU - Skye DePrado Assisted by Sadie Hinkle	6	4
3rd Period		UDM	CMU
14:12	CMU - Sadie Hinkle	6	5
09:45	CMU - Skye DePrado	6	6
06:56	UDM - Alyssa Jarvis	7	6
05:23	UDM - Ella Brandt	8	6
04:24	CMU - Sandy Edwards Assisted by Sadie Hinkle	8	7
00:14	UDM - Leah Bodnar	9	7
4th Period		UDM	CMU
14:11	CMU - Skye DePrado	9	8
11:45	CMU - Sandy Edwards	9	9
05:14	UDM - Leah Bodnar Assisted by Cat Kopchia	10	9
04:27	CMU - Skye DePrado Assisted by Reagan Martinsen	10	10
00:06	UDM - Cat Kopchia	11	10