Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Michigan
Ticket Information
HLN Detroit Preview With Coach Holtz
DETROIT (2/18/2014) -- It might only be February, but the intensity will be lifted to another level as the state's only two Division I men's lacrosse schools will look to battle it out for bragging rights when the University of Detroit Mercy hosts Michigan on Wednesday at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
It will be a
RED OUT and all Titan fans are encouraged to wear
RED to drown out the Michigan maize and blue.
Tickets for the indoor game against Michigan are set at $10 per ticket and $5 for all UDM students (with school proper ID). For more information including how to purchase tickets,
click here. (Tickets will be available at the gate until they are sold out so purchase online to assure your seat at the game)
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through the men's lacrosse
GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets.
Detroit opened the 2014 season with an 11-10 win over Mercer as five Titans had multi-goal games. UDM led 8-5 in the third, when the Bears took a brief lead with four-straight goals, but back came Detroit as junior
Shayne Adams had two goals in the fourth to secure his hat trick and a Titan comeback.
Following the game, Detroit will hit the road for two straight starting with a game at Robert Morris on Sunday and playing at VMI next Saturday.
THE OPENING FACEOFF
After a thrilling season-opening win over Mercer on Sunday, the Titans will play their second of three games in a week as the red, white and blue meet the maize and blue in a Great Lakes lacrosse match-up at Ultimate Soccer Arenas.
Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., at the indoor facility in Pontiac.
PLAYING INDOORS
This is the fifth career game that the Titans will play indoors at Ultimate Soccer Arenas as Detroit owns a 3-1 record in the facility.
Two of the wins have come over Mercer, 11-10, this past Sunday and 19-3 in 2011.
UDM's lone loss was to Bellarmine, 12-8, in 2010, while the Titans defeated Michigan, 13-9, in 2012.
VS. THE ECAC
Detroit is 1-11 all-time against current members of the ECAC. The lone win was against Michigan in 2012, while UDM is 0-5 against Bellarmine and Ohio State and 0-1 versus Air Force.
DETROIT VS. MICHIGAN
This is the second career meeting between the two teams, but it is the third time the Titans and Wolverines will tangle. After defeating Michigan, 13-9, at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in 2012, UDM traveled up to the Big House last season and led 4-3 in the second when Mother Nature forced the contest to be cancelled.
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES
Michigan is 1-1 on the season after starting the year with a 22-7 loss at No. 9 Penn State and a 20-8 triumph over Mercer last Friday. Through two games, Michigan has seen 12 players record goals, led by Ian King's four goals and five points.
Andrew Portnoy has three goals and four points on the year, while Mike Francia and Riley Kennedy are tied for the team lead with three assists apiece. Will Biagi is the team's top faceoff man winning 14-of-32 and JD Johnson leads the team with three caused turnovers.
Robbie Zonino has started both games in net for the Wolverines and has a 13.97 goals against average and a .450 save percentage.
LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN
The much-hyped interstate battle between the Detroit and Michigan men's lacrosse teams produced so much energy, lightning was all over the scene as the Titans' game against the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium was suspended due to inclement weather. The game would be cancelled the next day.
It was 4-3 Detroit with 6:32 left in the second period when the second lightning delay sent teams off the field. During that delay, there were multiple lightning sightings, forcing the suspension.
The teams traded goals to start the game before the first lightning delay halted play with 11:36 left in the second period.
Brandon Beauregard got the scoring going with some great ball movement as
Shannen Wesley found the attacker, who beat the keeper a little more than six minutes into the game. After a Michigan goal,
Alex Maini had a great individual effort, beating the U-M defense before firing one to the back of the net for a 2-1 advantage with 53 seconds remaining in the first, but Michigan was able to knot it up just before the period ended.
UDM then took advantage of an extra-man opportunity as
Tom Masterson found
Mike Birney who ripped one to the net for a 3-2 lead, but the maize and blue tied it up at 3-all right before play was delayed due to weather.
When play resumed,
Scott Drummond gave UDM a 4-3 lead, but then the next storm cell moved in.
In 2012,
Alex Maini had five points and
Shayne Adams tallied four goals as Detroit pulled away from a 5-5 game at the half, outscoring UM, 5-2 in the third as the Titans won 13-9.
PLAYING AT HOME
UDM is 11-9 at home on Titan Field in its history as well as 3-1 in home games played indoors at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac.
BORN AND RAISED IN MICHIGAN
While the Titans do recruit nationally, there is no arguing that Detroit loves to keep players in their home state as 27 of UDM's 48 players (56.2%) hail from the Great Lakes State.
Canada and New York follows with eight student-athletes on the roster, while Florida has two and Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania have one apiece.
FLYNN'S BIG DEBUT
Redshirt freshman
Connor Flynn sat back last season and watched a great goalie finish his career in
A.J. Levell and Coach Levell must have been proud of what he saw as Flynn won his collegiate debut in net against Mercer in the season opener.
Flynn posted 16 saves – tied for the ninth most in school history and the most by a UDM goalie in his debut – with five of them coming in the fourth period during crunch time. He also had a team-high six ground balls in the 11-10 season-opening victory.
RELOADING THE DEFENSE
The Titans knew they had to build their defense back up after the graduation of a number of key starters and players from last year's NCAA Tournament team and after just one game, it looks like Detroit has the right pieces to do just that.
Detroit saw Mercer commit 16 turnovers and 11 of them were forced by a squad that historically ranks among the leaders in caused turnovers. Junior defenseman
Joe Gifford led the way with a game and career-high four caused turnovers, while sophomore defenseman
Jordan Yono came away with three.
STANDING TALL IN SHOOTING BARRAGE
The Titans saw Mercer outshoot them, 38-29, in the season opener yet Detroit was able to withstand that for a win.
It was only the fourth time in school history that UDM won a game despite being outshot.
The nine-shot margin was also the second most in a win behind the 39-23 advantage that Marist had in the Titans' 9-8 win in the MAAC Semifinals in 2011.
The last time Detroit was outshot and won was in the regular season finale last year as Canisius put up 39 to UDM's 33 in the red, white and blue's 13-7 victory.
KEEP IT UP
Junior
Shayne Adams ran his streak to 33-straight games recording at least one point. His latest was a hat trick against Mercer in the season opener.
The 33 games are currently tied for the fourth most by an active player in Division I.
MAINI FIGHTING TO KEEP SCHOOL RECORD
Senior
Alex Maini began the 2014 campaign as the Titan career leader with 102 points and he added to that with an assist in the season opener. He now has eight more points than former teammate Scott Harris (2009-12) and is 10 ahead of current teammate
Shayne Adams.
Maini is also second in school history with 64 goals, trailing Adams by 17, while Maini has 39 career assists, second in school history and just four away from Harris.
BIRNEY GOES BOOM
Junior
Mike Birney tallied two goals in the season-opening win over Mercer and has now posted multi-goal games in eight of his last nine games and nine of his last 11 dating back to last season.
Birney returns after an outstanding sophomore season that saw him earn All-MAAC Second Team and the Most Outstanding Player at the 2013 MAAC Championship, where he recorded eight goals and had a pair of game winners and a career-high five markers in the title game.
He scored a goal in 14 of UDM's 15 games last season, including 12 in a row to end the campaign, and had multiple goals on nine occasions with five hat tricks and that career performance of five in the MAAC Championship comeback against Siena.
GREAT COMBINATION
Junior
Shayne Adams and junior
Mike Birney each currently have a double-digit streak going in goals scored.
Adams is currently tied for 10th among active players in Division I with a goal in 14-straight games, while Birney is right below him tied for 11th in the nation with a marker in 13-straight.
During this span, Adams has 33 total goals, while Birney has 29.
MORE BIRNEY BITES
Junior
Mike Birney had just 12 goals and 19 points in his first 19 collegiate games, but in his last nine, the All-MAAC midfielder has recorded 24 goals and 29 points.
THE BEAT OF HIS DRUM
Junior
Scott Drummond was one of the unsung heroes in last year's run to the MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance and he started the season with a bang tying his career high with five points and three assists against Mercer.
He has now recorded at least one point in 13-straight games dating back to last season as he finished 2013 with a career-high 27 points on 14 goals and 13 assists.
At the MAAC Championship, he tied his career high with three assists in the semifinals win over Marist, and then tallied two goals - back-to-back - against Siena with both coming in the third to start the Titan comeback over the Saints in the title game.
He also had a helper against No. 2 Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
A MASTER OF HIS PROFESSION
Senior
Tom Masterson had two goals and an assist against Mercer and has now scored a point in 11-straight games dating back to last year.
During this spurt, he has posted 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points.
Masterson's offense was one of the highlights as Detroit made its run to the NCAA Championship as he had just two assists and two points in the first five games, but then recording at least one point in the last 10, including two goals and an assist against Canisius in the regular season finale and a goal with a career-high three helpers in the MAAC Championship game.
He ended the year with career highs in goals (13), assists (13) and points (26).
