DETROIT (3/1/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will gear up for two games in three days as the Titans head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to play in the Third Annual Midwest Classic this weekend.

This year's event will be hosted by Marquette at Valley Fields as the red, white and blue face Bellarmine on Friday, March 3, at 3 p.m. (EST), and the Golden Eagles on Sunday, March 5, at 4 p.m. (EST). 

Detroit Mercy is coming off a tough 15-6 setback at Robert Morris last Saturday in the Titans fifth game in 14 days to start the season, with three of those on the road. 

Sophomore Matthew Vangalen tied a school record with four assists last week and is leading the team with 19 points and 11 assists and tied for first with eight goals. Senior Kyle Beauregard shares the team lead with eight goals and is second on the squad with 10 points, while juniors Sean Birney and Alec Gilhooly have seven goals apiece.

Senior Ben Gjokaj and freshman Alex Jarzembowski have formed a great tandem in faceoffs as both have posted double-digit wins in a game on the season. Gjokaj tied his career best going 15-of-23 and tallying a career-high 10 ground balls at Ohio State in the opener and is 36-of-82 (43.9%) on the season with 18 ground balls.

Jarzembowski came on strong at RMU winning 14-of-21 with seven ground balls and is 17-of-29 (58.6%) on the season picking up nine GB's.  

Senior goalie Jason Weber was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, the ninth time in his career he has earned that honor, after posting 20 saves last week in the win over Jacksonville and the road contest at Robert Morris. 

The two-time All-MAAC honoree and the conference's Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, he has now played in 42 career games and has registered double-digit saves in 36 of them. He also has 570 career saves and is just 39 away from the school record of 609 held by A.J. Levell '13. 

Junior Charlie Hayes leads the defense with five caused turnovers, while junior Will Kane has four and sophomore Sam Horton and freshman Alex Akins have three apiece.

Bellarmine is 1-2 on the year with a 10-8 loss at Robert Morris, a 13-5 home loss to Michigan and a 14-13 victory at Quinnipiac, while Marquette is currently 1-1 on the season with a 17-1 road win over Jacksonville and a 9-2 loss at Richmond and is currently receiving votes in both polls. 

ABOUT THE MIDWEST CLASSIC
This is the third year of a series that rotates hosts out of the four participating schools in the Midwest in Detroit Mercy, Bellarmine, Marquette and Ohio State. 

Bellarmine hosted the inaugural classic in 2015, while Ohio State was the host last year and the Titans are set to run the four-team tournament in 2018.

Detroit Mercy is 1-3 in the first two years defeating Bellarmine 14-11 on the road in 2015 before falling to Marquette, 12-6. Last year, the Titans were edged in a pair of games against Bellarmine (7-6) and Marquette (10-8).

ALL-TIME VS. BELLARMINE
The Titans are 1-7 all-time against Bellarmine with the one win coming on the Knights' home field in the 2015 Midwest Classic.

This is just the second career meeting on a neutral field following last year's contest in the Midwest Classic at Ohio State. 

The meeting will be the ninth all-time tying them with Ohio State for the most against any non-conference opponent and trailing only the 10 meetings against Marist for the most in school history.

ALL-TIME VS. MARQUETTE
The Titans are looking for their first win against fellow Jesuit institution Marquette as the Golden Eagles have won all four previous meetings, two at the Midwest Classic. 

Detroit Mercy will play at Marquette for the second time in school history as the Titans were the first ever home opponent for the Golden Eagles back in 2013. That game is also believed to be the first-ever Division I lacrosse game ever played in the state of Wisconsin.