The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team earned an impressive 20-8 victory over Detroit Mercy on Senior Day inside the Watson and Tressel Training Site Saturday afternoon. This win seals a Mid-American Conference tournament berth for the Penguins.
YSU improves to 6-10 overall and 4-3 in MAC play while the Titans fall to 3-9 on the season with a 2-4 conference record.
Ali Korin, who was celebrated prior to the start of the contest, scored the 100th goal of her career with an impressive four goals in the Senior Day game. Korin also added an assist for five points on the day.
Jordan Miller and Jade Shearer also scored four goals in the contest. Shearer's four-goal performance marked a career-high for the freshman and was her first career hat trick.
Erin Clark and Ally Garrett also delivered hat tricks with three goals apiece while Clark added two assists for five points. Taylor Bumstead also had a multi-goal outing, scoring two goals in the contest.
Tristen Chang led all players with six ground balls, also tallying four draw controls and a caused turnover. Aryss Lindsey and Molly Sheridan each caused two turnovers on the day while Abby Yesko led the Guins with seven draw controls.
Splitting time in the cage, Jacqueline Cornell recorded five saves in the second half while Mikaela Staranko caused two turnovers in the first.
The Penguins opened the game with six goals in less than six minutes of play to take an early 6-0 lead over the Titans. Within 20 seconds of the whistle, Korin scored her first goal of the day before Garrett found the back of the net less than a minute later. During the early run, Bumstead and Miller scored their firsts of the day while Korin delivered her second goal of the game.
At the 8:12 mark of the first, the Titans scored their first goal of the day to make the score 6-1. Then, at the 5:50 mark, Korin found the back of the net once again to deliver a hat trick of goals in less than 10 minutes of play.
Detroit Mercy put one between the pipes before YSU went on a 5-0 run that lasted until the 9:04 mark of the second quarter. To start the run, Miller fired a Clark pass into the net for the score. Then, Garrett scored her second of the day before Miller found the back of the net once again for the early hat trick. Shearer followed Miller's score with one of her own as Chang delivered the assist. Korin scored her fourth goal of the day to close out the run that gave the Guins a 10-point lead over the Titans, 12-2.
The Titans scored two unanswered to close out the second quarter as the Penguins took a 12-4 lead into halftime.
Shearer opened the third quarter with two straight goals for a hat trick to make the score 14-4 at the 11:11 mark of the third. Following Shearer's early second-half scores, the Titans found the back of the net twice, making the score 15-6.
Beginning at the 3:42 mark of the third, Clark scored three goals in less than five minutes of play for a fast hat trick. She scored her first goal unassisted and then followed that with two goals on assists from Chang as the Penguins took an 11-point lead, 17-6, at the 14:31 mark of the fourth quarter.
Clark's goals sparked a 6-0 run for the Penguins as Miller, Garrett, and Bumstead each found the back of the net to give the Guins' their largest lead of the game, 20-6, with 5:24 left to play. Detroit Mercy closed out the contest with two goals of their own to make the final score, 20-8.
YSU won the draw control margin, 17-13, while outshooting the Titans 43-27.
Youngstown State will close out the regular season on the road, facing Kent State at Dix Stadium on Saturday, April 29. First draw is set for 1 p.m. in Kent, Ohio.