CLINTON, S.C. – A herculean effort in the keeper's box by junior Kayleigh Aitken against her former squad wasn't quite enough for the Presbyterian College lacrosse team to achieve their third straight victory, instead falling on the losing side of a 13-9 tally to Detroit Mercy on Friday evening.

Aitken – who scattered over 400 minutes for the Blue Hose last season and has started every match of 2025 after transferring from Detroit – gave her all in the defeat by producing a team-high seven groundballs and a career-best 11 saves.

PC found themselves playing catch-up in the early going after the Titans mustered a four-spot in the opening period. They'd never be able to wrestle away the lead, inching as close as one point away late in the 3^rd.

Head coach Eric Clakeley's crew nearly pitched a 3^rd-quarter shutout on Friday, holding Detroit Mercy scoreless for over 13 second-half minutes.


 
NOTABLES
 
- Senior captain Willow Hammond is on the precipice of elite company after scoring two 4^th-quarter goals, now just one shy of a hundred for her career. She will join Abby Edmisten (2020-24) and Catherine Ellis (2011-14) as one of the three players in school history to hit that milestone.

- Georgia native Kaylie Rittmueller was another of PC's spirited bunch to either set a new personal best or tie an existing record, scoring three times for the second occasion in her career (she also hit a trio versus Longwood last spring).

- Rookie Emily Currie followed up her incendiary performance against Delaware State last weekend – where she logged eight points and scored seven times – with four combined goals in her last two appearances.

- Detroit made Aitken and the Blue Hose defense work very had in the two teams' first meeting since 2012, totaling 24 shots-on-goal and winning the draw control category 16-10.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
- Three of the last four goals in the opening half were submitted by the Titans, allowing them to stay ahead of a scrappy Blue Hose challenger by a 7-4 count at the break.

- The deficit stayed at that exact number for the first 10 minutes of quarter number three, that is until Rittmueller and Currie notched back-to-back connections to whittle the lead down to 7-6.

- However, Detroit Mercy would change the trajectory of the match by hitting the back of the net three times in the last 83 seconds of the period.

- PC would tie the Titans in the 4^th at three apiece, and although Hammond lined up her 99^th career goal with 3:34 on the clock, they'd simply run out of time and eventually fall by four.


 
UP NEXT
 
- Two more combatants will visit Bailey Memorial Stadium over the school's Spring Break next week, with the Blue Hose going up against Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday afternoon and later Merrimack on Wednesday.

- Presbyterian is in the midst of their longest homestand in 18 years (six games), as the Knights look to end a three-game losing skid on Saturday in a visit to Big South member Winthrop.