Six Titans found the back of the net and senior Charlie Hayes led the defense with four caused turnovers, but Air Force was able to come up with some timely goals in the final period as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team dropped a 9-7 contest to the Falcons on Sunday afternoon. The game was played on campus at Titan Field. Sophomore Seth Mendell led the offense with two goals, while seniors Lucas Ducharme and Alec Gilhooly added a goal and an assist. Hayes had four of the Titan eight caused turnovers and picked up five ground balls and senior Pat Masterson had a caused turnover and collected a team-best six GB's. Redshirt freshman Logan Shamblin made 11 saves in net. Mendell's goals were both in the first period as Detroit Mercy (2-5) had a 2-1 lead midway through the quarter. The Titans then scored four in a row between the end of the second and into the third period to take a 6-5 lead, but Air Force (2-5) answered with three straight to jump out in front 8-6 with just 1:19 left in the game. The Titans outshot the Falcons, 35-33, and had the edge in ground balls, 28-27. They also won the battle in faceoffs as sophomore Alex Jarzembowski was 13-of-18 in the contest. Detroit Mercy will now open conference play this weekend, March 17 when it hosts Marist at Titans Field. Game time is set for noon. First Period: Air Force took an early lead less than two minutes into the game, but back came the Titans with two goals from Mendell. His first goal came at the 11:40 mark as he picked up a loose ball and fired one in the net. The second one came in almost the same fashion as he fired a shot that was saved, but was able to collect a ground ball and beat the keeper for a 2-1 lead with 6:42 left. The Falcons were able to score two goals to end the period with a 3-2 lead. Second Period: Despite a couple of saves from Shamblin and a caused turnover by Hayes, Air Force netted two more goals for a 5-2 advantage with 9:48 left. The Titans were able to cut into the deficit as off a save by Shamblin, the Titans were on a break and the ball got into the stick of LSM Paul Manuszak, who on his first collegiate shot ripped one to the twine to make it a 5-3 game with 7:56 remaining. Shamblin made four saves the rest of the period and junior Sam Horton and sophomore Alex Akins each had a caused turnover as the Titans trailed 5-3 at the half. Third Period: Detroit Mercy pulled within one, 5-4, as senior Sean Birney fed Gilhooly and he put in a marker with 13:35 on the clock. The Titan run continued as less than a minute later, Ducharme found freshman Brett Erskine and he posted a goal to tie it at 5-5. Hayes came up with two caused turnovers after that and junior Emmett Green also had one, and then the Titans took advantage of an Air Force penalty as Gilhooly set up Ducharme and his power-play strike put the red, white and blue on top, 6-5, with 6:54 left. Air Force tied it up just two minutes later and it was a 6-6 game after three. Fourth Period: The Titans peppered the Air Force goalie with shots early in the stanza, but the Falcons took the lead at the 7:07 mark. Detroit Mercy was trying to comeback, but then got a penalty for a cross check with 1:25 left and Air Force capitalized with a goal to make it 8-6. The Titans answered right away off a faceoff win as Hayes picked up the ground ball and then fired on net for a goal to get the team within one, 8-7, with 1:08 left. Detroit Mercy won the ensuing faceoff, but was not able to get a shot off and Air Force added a goal with five seconds on the clock. Game Notes: Air Force leads the all-time series, 5-0 Hayes now has 19 caused turnovers on the season, two away from his career high of 21 last year Shamblin has posted double-digit saves in five of the Titan seven games