Box Score


Despite a valiant second half effort, the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team dropped its season opener, 3-1, to in-state rival Central Michigan Friday afternoon at Titan Field.

Junior forward and team captain Emily Kiely (Tecumseh, ON/St. Anne's Secondary) led Detroit with a second half goal while freshman forward Alison Suschak (Brecksville, OH/Brecksville) picked up her first colligate assist on the tally. Freshman goalkeeper Joanna Hinde (Shelby Township, MI/Eisenhower) suffered the loss in her first career start, facing 12 shots with three saves.

Central Michigan was led by junior forward Stephanie Martin, who had a hand in all three CMU markers with a goal and two assists. Junior Molly Gerst also tallied a goal and an assist while sophomore Valerie Prause rounded out the scoring for the Chippewas. Sophomore Shay Mannino picked up the win, making four saves while facing six shots.

In the first half, Detroit fell behind early as Martin put CMU up 1-0 just one minute into the contest. Detroit had its best opportunity for the equalizer at the 7:35 mark as Kiely took a shot from the left side which beat Mannino but missed just past the right post. The Chippewas then increased their lead to 3-0 on Gerst's and Prause's goals at the 18:46 and 26:12 marks, respectively.

UDM regrouped in the second half and limited CMU to four shots while Kiely got the Titans on the board at the 51:36 mark. She took a feed from Suschak on the right side of the goal and put a shot past Mannino from approximately 10 feet out. However, that would be the only offense the Titans would muster as CMU maintained the lead for the 3-1 victory.

UDM will be back in action on Monday, Aug. 25 with a non-conference game against IUPUI at Titan Field. Kick off is scheduled for 4 p.m.