Detroit Upsets Elon Women’s Lacrosse in A-Sun Semifinals

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Third-seeded Detroit completed a 15-11 upset of the second-seeded Elon women’s lacrosse team today, May 2, in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Championships.

Elon outshot Detroit, 29-23, but Titan’s goalie Lexie McCormick posted 16 saves in the game to keep the Phoenix out of the net. Elle Hvozdovic won four draws to help the maroon and gold win the advantage at the draw, 16-12. Both teams picked up 17 ground balls in the game with Rachel Ramirez leading Elon with four.

Molly Garrigan recorded a team-high seven points in the game after five goals and two assists. Olivia Fernandez, Sydney Hesselbein and Anna Vitton each posted two goals on the day, while Fernandez also earned an assist.

In goal for the Phoenix, Ramirez struggled with only four saves and finished the game with a 21.1 save percentage.

The Titans were led by Tessa Keuler who scored five goals and had two assists, while Annie Mendoza also finished with five scores in the game.

The Phoenix started strong off the opening draw, taking a 2-0 lead in the first four minutes of play. Garrigan scored at the 28:22 mark before assisting on a Vitton goal two minutes later. The Titans responded with five straight scores, including two by Keuler, to claim a 5-2 advantage with 15:57 to play in the half.

Garrigan broke the scoring drought for the maroon and gold with 13:37 on the clock to close the gap to two, 5-3, before Detroit posted another three goals with six minutes remaining.

With just over five minutes left before half, Garrigan netted her third score of the day off an assist from Fernandez to pull within four, 8-4. The Titans finished out the frame with two more scores to hold a 10-4 lead at the break.

The maroon and gold came out of halftime with back-to-back scores to pull within four, 10-6. Hesselbein scored her first goal of the game with 28:26 off an assist by Garrigan before Vitton posted a free-position goal 40 seconds later. The Titans answered with two scores by the 24:14 mark to take its lead back to six, 12-6.

Both teams would trade goals twice for 10 minutes before Fernandez broke through with 12:29 remaining to make it a 14-9 game. With just over five minutes to play, Garrigan pulled the Phoenix within four, 14-10.

Detroit was able to keep the ball away from the Phoenix and net a goal with 2:46 on the clock. Garrigan netted the final goal of the day on a free-position goal at the two-minute mark to make it a 15-11 final.

For the game, Elon finished 10-of-12 in clear attempts, while the Titans went 13-of-17. Detroit was a perfect 3-of-3 in free-position shots as Elon went 3-of-5.