Box Score (in pdf)
The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to Valparaiso at Brown Field Sunday afternoon in both teams' final Horizon League regular-season game. With the loss, UDM falls to 4-12-1 on the year (1-6-1 HL), while Valpo improves to 6-9-3 overall (1-6-1).
UDM freshman Paul Graf (Dearborn Heights, MI/Divine Child) started just his third collegiate game in net for the Titans and ended the afternoon with nine saves in 90 minutes of action.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Valpo senior Paul Leitelt took a free kick from about 25 yards out, but Graf punched it over the crossbar to keep it a scoreless game.
At 49:40, UDM sophomore Ken Simon (Brighton, MI/Brighton) attempted a free kick at the 27-yard line, but it ended up going high as it hit the crossbar of the football goal post.
In the 55th minute, Leitelt tallied a shot, which was saved by Graf, but Leitelt got his own rebound and saw his next attempt go into the bottom right corner of the net for the first goal of the game.
Valpo's second goal happened at the 60:37 mark, after junior Steve Shively had last touch of the ball for the Crusaders, but it ended up as an own goal.
Senior Simon Zahra (New South Wales, Sydney, Australia/Evans) had a chance to put Detroit on the scoreboard with just under 20 minutes left in the match after ripping a hard shot from his right foot from about 20 yards out, but it was saved by Valpo freshman netminder Kyle Zobeck for one of his eight saves of the day.
Valpo junior Israel Bisoni scored the third goal for the Crusaders in the 81st minute off of a pass from junior Rodolfo Lucas.
The Crusaders outshot the Titans, 20-15, and Valpo also had a slight advantage in corner kicks, 5-3.
Prior to the Horizon League Championship, where the Titans will be the No. 9 seed and will face #4 Green Bay in Wisconsin on Nov. 6 (8 p.m.), UDM will host Bowling Green on Nov. 4 (2 p.m.). Prior to kick-off on Election Day, the five Detroit seniors will be honored for their hard work and dedication to the UDM men's soccer program.
-Detroit Titans-
