2018 Men’s Lacrosse Year in Review: #25 Detroit Mercy Titans

With the 2018 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to start looking back at how all 71 teams did during the season, as well as what to expect from each squad for 2019. These are not end of season rankings, as some people might think.

We’ve already begun looking back to 2018 with some team recaps thus far and continued our series yesterday with Ohio State.

So with that, let’s continue the recaps!

#25 Detroit Mercy Titans

Conference: MAAC
2018 Record: 9-7 (5-1 in MAAC play)
Postseason: Defeated Monmouth in MAAC semifinals, lost to Canisius in MAAC championship
Head coach: Chris Kolon (4th Year)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Matthew Vangalen (31)
Assists: Matthew Vangalen (20)
Points: Matthew Vangalen (51)
Faceoffs: Alex Jarzembowski (163-of-313; 52.1%)
Ground balls: Charlie Hayes (83)
Caused turnovers: Charlie Hayes (34)
Goals against average: Logan Shamblin (9.13 GAA)
Save percentage: Logan Shamblin (54.4%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: SSDM Charlie Hayes (83 GBs, 34 CTs, 9 Gs, 5 As), M Sean Birney (14 Gs, 10 As, 14 GBs), D Will Kane (26 GBs, 12 CTs), M Alec Gilhooly (11 Gs, 11 As, 12 GBs), D/LSM Pat Masterson (51 GBs, 17 CTs, 2 Gs, 1 A), M Lucas Ducharme (13 Gs, 6 As), D Bryan Matney (3 GBs, 1 CT), SSDM Marcus Butters (4 GBs, 1 CT, 1 G)
Senior scoring departing: 83 of 261 points (31.8%)
Senior starts lost: 60 of 160 (37.5%)

Season Summary

2018 was a historic year for the Detroit Mercy program, earning a program-best nine wins as well as a record five MAAC wins. The Titans also set records for goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, and goals against average.

The season nearly started with a surprise upset against Notre Dame. But after leading 6-4 with 8:11 left in the third quarter, the Fighting Irish scored six unanswered goals to end the upset bid. After an overtime win over Mercer, the Titans lost four of their next five games, including tough losses to Ohio State and Air Force.

But Detroit Mercy took advantage of the wide open MAAC conference, with their only loss coming against Quinnipiac in late March. Their 5-1 conference record was good enough for the second seed in the MAAC Tournament after doubling up on Cleveland State.

Things looked bleak in the semifinal matchup against Monmouth. The Titans were down 9-5 with 8:31 left in regulation. But Detroit Mercy conquered the final 8:09 of the game thanks to two goals from Matthew Vangalen and Patrick Walsh as part of a 7-0 run to move on to the conference championship game against Canisius. But the roles were reversed against the Golden Griffins. Up two with 2:38 left to play, Canisius scored two goals before regulation expired to force overtime. Six seconds into the extra session, FOGO Alex Jarzembowski tried to pass it back to goalie Logan Shamblin who was out of the crease. Mathieu Boissonneault intercepted the pass and scored on the empty net to win the conference championship.

Vangalen was part of a young starting core at attack alongside freshman Brett Erskine and sophomore Seth Mendell. The three topped the team in points with 51, 35, and 27 respectively. Seniors Sean Birney, Alex Gilhooly, Charlie Hayes, and Lucas Ducharme were part of the midfield that also consisted of freshman Brennan Kamish, junior Patrick Walsh, and sophomore Matt Turner.

Defensively, sophomore Alex Akins, junior Sam Horton, and senior Will Kane started at attack for the majority of the season. Senior Pat Masterson was the top LSM and freshman Paul Manuszak was his backup. Despite starting in 12 games, Hayes’ real impact came as a short stick defensive midfielder as he led the team with 83 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers. He was also joined by juniors Bo Pickens and Emmett Green. Jarzembowski went 52.1% as the primary faceoff taker in his sophomore season while Shamblin had a solid redshirt-freshman year with a 9.13 goals against average and a 54.4% save percentage.

Looking Ahead

The loss of Hayes on defense and offense will be very tough to deal with for Detroit Mercy. But there are some other losses on both sides of the ball. Brennan Kamish transferred to Rutgers earlier in the summer, while Birney and Gilhooly graduate.

On defense, Will Kane is the only starting defenseman gone as well as LSM Pat Masterson. But with the MAAC still being wide open for another season, the Titans can position themselves up to finish what they started in 2018 and win the conference AQ in 2019.

Here’s who the Titans will be adding to their roster for next year.*

*Compiled from a multitude of websites. Schools usually officially announce their recruiting class during the fall semester.