LOUDONVILLE, NY – On a day where the rain became secondary to the storm of play on the turf at Hickey Field Saturday afternoon, the Siena men's lacrosse team could not find the back of the net as they fell to Detroit Mercy 13-10. The Titans goaltender Logan Shamblin notched a career-high 21 saves in net, helping them to the win.
Siena got a three-goal performance from sophomore
Jack Kiernan, who added an assist on a four-point day. Senior
Mike Reilly also added four points with two goals and two assists. Goalie
Aaron Lewis had himself a strong day in net, making a career-high 14 saves in the loss.
Detroit Mercy was led by a pair of five-point days from Matt Vangalen and Brett Erskine. Erskine scored three times with two assists, while Vangalin scored once with four assists. Seth Mendell led the goal scoring with four on the day, while AJ Van Voorhis scored a pair with an assist.
The Titans opened the scoring in what became a defensive first half. Brett Erskine scored the first two Titans goals less than a minute apart at the 13:02 and 12:18 marks. But the Saints would answer by the end of the quarter, as Reilly and Kiernan tallied as things went into the second period knotted at 2-2. Detroit Mercy gained the advantage in the second period as well, holding the Saints to one goal from Cook. With three scores in the second frame, the Titans led 5-3 at the half.
As the Saints gained a man up situation at the end of the first half, they took advantage of it to begin the second half. Pantalone would score on the man up opportunity just 23 seconds into the half to bring things within one at 5-4. But Detroit Mercy rolled back out to a two goal lead with a pair of scores from Cam Kostus and Mendell to grab their biggest lead of the day at 7-4. Both sides would trade goals before the end of the half, as the Titans led 8-5 heading to the fourth.
In the fourth, the Titans gained their largest lead in what would become the most offensive frame of the day for either side. They would gain a five-goal advantage with 4:55 to play on a man-up goal from Kostas, putting the game out of reach for the Saints despite goals from Reilly and Kiernan in the final four minutes.
The Green and Gold outshot the Titans 56-44, but the Titans won the ground game 42-35. The Saints were hampered by a rough day in the faceoff circle, with Detroit Mercy going 18-for-25 in that category. The Titans would also turn the ball over a total 23 times in the game.
The Saints will return to action next Saturday, April 27 when they conclude their 2019 regular season at Monmouth. Siena's postseason hopes lie in tiebreakers, and is to be determined.
