The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 17, Central Michigan 12
Records: Detroit Mercy 6-11 (4-6 ASUN), Central Michigan 7-10 (4-6 ASUN)
Location: Mount Pleasant, Mich.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (4/29/2017) -- Four Titans tallied hat tricks, goalkeeper
Allison McDonough turned away 14 shots and the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team finished the 2017 regular season on a high note in a 17-12 road victory at Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, Detroit Mercy earned its fourth-straight win and third consecutive away from home. The Titans closed out the 2017 season with a 4-6 ASUN record.
Sophomore
Lexie Kinmond led the Titans (6-11 overall) with six points on five goals and one assist. Sophomore
Morgan Girardi and senior
Kelsi Pritchard each added four goals, while junior
Jordyn Beam added three markers for Detroit Mercy.
Detroit Mercy (6-11 overall) and Central Michigan played back-and-forth early with the Chippewas holding a 3-2 advantage 11 minutes into the game. The Titans would go on to score five of the next six goals, however.
Pritchard knotted the game up under one minute later and Kinmond followed with a goal to put Detroit Mercy up 4-3. After CMU tied it up, Pritchard scored off a free-position shot to give the Titans a 5-4 edge with 11:42 left in the first half. Beam then scored off a feed from Kinmond and just 19 seconds later, Kinmond scored off a free-position opportunity. At the break, Detroit Mercy led, 7-5.
McDonough was pivotal in the first half, making seven saves and Detroit Mercy was 10-of-10 on clear attempts during the opening half. The good play continued in the second frame with Detroit Mercy scoring the first two goals on back-to-back markers by Pritchard and Girardi.
Detroit Mercy scored five of the first six goals in the second half, using a 5-1 run to take a 12-6 lead with 20:22 left. Pritchard, Beam, Kinmond and Girardi all scored during the stretch. After a mini goal-scoring run by the host Chippewas cut the Titans' lead to two, 12-10, Detroit Mercy started to pull away.
The Titans went on a 4-0 run of their own with Beam starting the stretch with her third goal of the game. Girardi scored the 42nd and 43rd goals of the year during the stretch and Kinmond added a marker -- her 43rd of the year -- in the run as Detroit Mercy went up 16-10 with 5:50 left on the clock.
Detroit Mercy put the game away in the closing minutes with McDonough making four saves and Detroit Mercy helping force six Central Michigan turnovers in the final 15 minutes of the game. Senior
Julie Castner put an exclamation point on the victory, closing out the scoring with her sixth goal of the season with just 16 seconds left on the clock. It was the team's seventh free-position goal of the contest.
McDonough had another remarkable game in net for the Titans and also went past 100 career ground balls during the game. She made seven saves in each half and tallied the 10th game of double-figure saves this season. It was the fifth time this season in which McDonough has made 14 or more stops in a game.
Junior defenders
Brittany Fenney,
Taylor Spray and
Lauren Webley all finished with three ground balls in the game, while Girardi, McDonough and Webley each had two caused turnovers for the Titans. Junior defender
Emma Mucci led the squad with five draw controls and Girardi added three DC.
As a team, Detroit Mercy went 7-of-12 on free-position shots and 19-for-20 on clear attempts. The Chippewas had advantages in shots (34-31), draw controls (18-12) and ground balls (25-21), but Detroit Mercy made twice as many saves as CMU and scored six more free-position goals than Central Michigan.
Girardi, who entered the game as the league leader in free-position goals, added two more on Saturday, going 2-for-2. She scored on all four of her shots and reached the 50-point plateau on the season in the game. Kinmond surpassed 70 points on Saturday, becoming the fourth player in team history to do so in a single-season. Kinmond also reached the 40-goal plateau for the second time in her career.
As a team, Detroit Mercy reached 200 goals in a season for the fifth time in program history. The red, white and blue also increased its total on free-position goals to 59, the second-best total in school history.
It was the final game for seniors
Julie Castner,
Danielle Kirby and
Kelsi Pritchard. Along with
Jaclyn Snyder, who missed the season due to an injury, the senior quartet were integral parts of some very successful Titan teams in the past for years. Detroit Mercy reached three-straight ASUN Championship games and became the first team in ASUN history to defeat Jacksonville, last season in the ASUN semifinals. The Titans earned 33 wins during the past four seasons.
