Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Marquette

DETROIT (3/13/2014) -- Just once more non-conference game remains on the schedule and it will be played this Saturday as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team matches up with Jesuit-rival Marquette on Titan Field. Game time is set for Noon.

This weekend is also Youth Lacrosse Weekend with Titan lacrosse and that will include free postgame clinics for the youth lax players to participate in where they can meet and greet with the players and the coaches following the men's game on Saturday and the women's contest against Duquesne on Sunday. For large groups that want to attend, tickets are priced at $2 per ticket for any groups of 10 or more. For more ticket information, click here.

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.

The Titans are 3-3 on the season after posting a thrilling victory on the road last week, scoring with just one second left on the clock. With the game tied at 8-all, UDM was flagged for a slash with under a minute left and the Seahawks went on the offensive, getting a shot off with about 25 seconds on the clock, but freshman goalie Jason Weber made the save and got the ball to junior Mike Birney, who did the rest breaking through Wagner's defense and firing one from about 22 yards out.

Senior Alex Maini led the Titan offense with five points scoring four goals and now leads the team with 23 points on 10 markers and a team-high 13 assists. Senior Tom Masterson and junior Scot Drummond each have 16 points apiece, while senior Shayne Adams tops the team with 14 goals and has 15 overall points.

Weber has made three starts in goals and has won two with an 8.67 goals against average and a .653 save percentage, while sophomore Paul Bitetti leads the nation with 3.40 caused turnovers per game.

Marquette is 1-5 on the season and has lost four in a row after falling to No. 6/4 Duke, 20-9, on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles lone win was at Hofstra, 11-9, and they also defeated the Titans last season at home, 14-9.

After the game, the red, white and blue will open the MAAC season at Canisius next Sunday with game time set for Noon.

JESUIT FAMILY
Detroit and Marquette are two of eight Jesuit Universities that currently field Division I lacrosse programs.

Besides the Titans and Golden Eagles, other Jesuit Division I lacrosse schools are: Canisius, Holy Cross, Fairfield, Georgetown, Loyola (MD) and Saint Joseph's.

UDM is 3-5 all-time against Jesuit programs with a 3-2 mark versus MAAC-rival Canisius, while falling once to Georgetown, Marquette and Saint Joseph's.

VS. THE BIG EAST
This is the third career game for the Titans against a current member of the BIG EAST as Detroit has dropped road games to Georgetown, 12-7 in 2012, and to Marquette, 14-9 last season, in the Golden Eagles first-ever home game.

ABOUT MARQUETTE
This is the second career meeting between Detroit and Marquette as the Golden Eagles – in just their second year of lacrosse – defeated the Titans, 14-9, in their first-ever home game last season.

Marquette is 1-5 on the year and is coming off its fourth-straight setback to the hands of No. 6/4 Duke, 20-9, on the road on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles lone win came on the road at Hofstra, 11-9, while they have also dropped road games at Lehigh (13-6), Ohio State (11-7), Marist (16-12) and Jacksonville (9-8).

Tyler Melnyk leads the offense with 22 points on a team-high 15 goals and seven assists. Against UDM last season, he had four goals and two helpers and that was after posting three goals and two assists as a freshman at Presbyterian against Detroit in 2010.

Kyle Whitlow has 10 goals and a pair of helpers, while Bryan Badolato has 12 points on eight markers and three assists.

JJ Sagl has started four games in between the pipes and has made 20 saves with a .278 save percentage and a 12.24 goals against average, but Jimmy Danaher has received the start in the last two games and has posted a .323 save percentage and a 15.18 GAA.

DENNIS SELECTED AS A SENIOR CLASS AWARD® CANDIDATE
Senior Troy Dennis of the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team received a great honor as he was one of 20 NCAA® lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were selected as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate men's lacrosse.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

MAN-UP DOMINATION
The Titans have taken advantages of penalties so far scoring on 15-of-22 (68.2%) extra-man opportunities - including 4-of-5 against Bellarmine and 3-of-4 at VMI - and are 13-of-16 in their last five games.

The NCAA stats released earlier in the week have UDM leading the nation in that category.

ARE YOU SURE YOUR PLAYING WITH ONE LESS?
While scoring goals gets all the attention and the man-up offense is leading the nation, the man-down defense has not been too shabby either ranking 15th in Division I and leading the MAAC in killing off penalties at 76.0%, allowing just six goals in 25 attempts.

The man-down unit even started the game winning goal at Wagner its last time out.

KEEP IT UP
Junior Shayne Adams ran his streak to 38-straight games recording at least one point as he tallied an assist at Wagner.

He now has 102 points on 89 goals and 13 assists during this spurt. The streak is currently the fifth longest in the nation by an active player in Division I.

MAINI FIGHTING TO KEEP SCHOOL RECORD
Senior Alex Maini is the Titan career leader in points and he added to that with five points on four goals and an assist at Wagner to come into the game with 125 total points. He currently holds the school record by 20 points over current teammate Shayne Adams' 105.

Maini is also second in school history with 74 goals, trailing Adams by 18, while Maini also owns the school assist record as his third helper at RMU gave him 44 at that point to pass former teammate Scott Harris (2009-12) on his way to his current mark of 51.

He is currently 12th in the nation in shot percentage (.526), 15th in assists per game (2.17) and 28th in points per game (3.83), ranking second in the MAAC in the latter and third in the conference in the first two statistics.

OH CANADA
Junior Shayne Adams put together quite a show in the first half at Robert Morris as he scored five goals in the first 30 minutes.

The five markers were two away from his school record of seven he set against Mercer in 2011, and with his three goals last week,

Adams now has 16 hat tricks in his career, the most among Titan players.

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 the first six games, it looks like Detroit has the right pieces to do just that.

Detroit is third in the country in saves per game (15.83) and fourth with 10.83 caused turnovers per game.

UDM totaled 17 caused turnovers against Bellarmine, tied for the fourth most in school history and the most since posting 20 against VMI last season.

The Titans started the year with 11 caused turnovers against Mercer and Michigan.

BITETTI'S TAKING IT AWAY
Sophomore defenseman Paul Bitetti leads the team with 17 caused turnovers and is averaging 3.40 per game, tops in the NCAA.

Bitetti has at least four caused turnovers in three of the five games he has played with a career-high five against Bellarmine.

Junior teammate Joe Gifford is second on the team with 10 caused turnovers and is 35th in the country at 1.67.

HICKS COMES UP BIG
Sophomore faceoff specialist Damien Hicks tied his career high for the third time - and the second this year - with seven ground balls at Wagner.

He was 8-of-14 versus the Seahawks. Against Robert Morris two weeks ago, he was a career-best 14-of-19, the most since Brandon Davenport (2010-13) had 14 at Canisius in 2012.

SPREADING THE BALL AROUND
Detroit has five players in double figures in points so far and 10 players have posted at least one goal through six games.

WEBER NAMED MAAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
With 33 saves in two games, freshman goalie Jason Weber was tabbed the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's (MAAC) Rookie Of The Week this past Monday.

Weber earned his second win of the season by splitting two games last week. Along with his 33 saves, he posted a .623 save percentage and a 10.00 goals against average with seven ground balls.

He tallied 18 saves in the road victory at Wagner – tying for the third most in program history and just two away from the school record – including a key save with 30 seconds left that help set up Detroit's game winning shot. Weber started the week by making 15 stops against RV/RV Bellarmine.

In three games as a starter, Weber has two wins with 49 saves, an 8.67 goals against average and a .653 save percentage, while collecting 10 ground balls.

Weber made 16 saves - six in the fourth period - and allowed just six goals, including none in the final 22 minutes of action, in a win at VMI and had 15 saves against RV/RV Bellarmine

A MASTER OF HIS PROFESSION
Senior Tom Masterson has six goals and 10 assists through six games and has now scored a point in 16-straight games.

During this spurt, he has posted 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points.
Masterson is coming off a season in which he ended the year with career highs in goals (13), assists (13) and points (26).

BIRNEY GOES BOOM
Junior Mike Birney has nine goals in the first five games and posted his sixth career hat trick with three goals against Michigan.

Birney has now posted multi-goal games in 10 of his last 14 games and 11 of his last 16 dating back to last season.

Birney earned All-MAAC Second Team and was 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 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.

MORE BIRNEY BITES
Junior Mike Birney had just 12 goals and 19 points in his first 19 collegiate games, but in his last 14, the All-MAAC midfielder has recorded 31 goals and 37 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 then added a goal and two helpers against Michigan.

He saw his streak of 14-straight games with at least one point come to an end at Robert Morris, but has one point in 17 of his last 18 games dating back to last season.

STANDING TALL IN SHOOTING BARRAGE
The Titans have been outshot, 250-212, on the year, but did come up with a couple of big wins while being outgunned.

At Wagner its last time out, Detroit was outshot, 45-29, but came back to post the game winner with one second left on the clock.

The 16-shot margin is tied for the most UDM has ever overcome for a win behind the 39-23 advantage that Marist had in the Titans' 9-8 triumph in the MAAC Semifinals in 2011.

It is only the fifth time in school history that UDM won a game despite being outshot.

In the season opener against Mercer, UDM was outshoot, 38-29, yet Detroit was able to withstand that for a win.

LETS PLAY MORE
UDM played its sixth career overtime game against Michigan, falling 14-13, on Feb. 19.
Detroit is now 3-3 all-time in overtime and 2-1 in MAAC play. All of the overtimes have been decided in the first extra session.

BRING IN THE POLE
Sophomore Jordan Yono did some extra work besides his defensive duties against Michigan.

Yono stepped in at faceoffs and helped Detroit win seven of its eight total victories.

WESLEY WORKS
Sophomore Shannen Wesley posted his second-straight game with a goal as he beat the keeper against Bellarmine on March 4.

He now has two goals on just 10 shots after totaling just three points a season ago on two assists and one marker.