Box Score

The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team traveled to University Center, MI, to take on Saginaw Valley State for its second exhibition match before starting the 2009 campaign. Despite making improvements over last week's exhibition with Madonna, the Titans were on the short end of a 2-1 final score.

The Titans pulled out to an early lead when sophomore midfielder Alison Suschak (Brecksville, OH/Brecksville) directed a pass into the goal area where freshman forward Janae Paveglio (Flushing, MI/Flushing) struck a header into the back of the net.

But it was only seven minutes before Saginaw evened the score.

Detroit was outshot 8-2 in the first half, and both its shots came on headers, but still managed to keep the score knotted at the break, thanks in large to the goalkeeping of sophomore Joanna Hind (Shelby Twp., MI/Eisenhower), who recorded eight saves in the match.

Six of Hinde's saves came in the second half, but with under five minutes remaining the Cardinals managed to sneak one past her for the game-winning goal.

Still without some key offensive weapons, the Titans only managed five shots in the contest. Paveglio recorded two, while Alison Suschak, sophomore Alexandra Suschak (Brecksville, OH/Brecksville), and senior Trina Kochanski (Royal Oak, MI/Kimball) each recorded one.

“What I saw today was that our back line played much better than last week,” said UDM head coach Mike Lupenec. “The effort was better and we had a better idea of what we were doing. Offensively, we're still missing some key pieces, and I think when we get some players back we're going to have a lot more firepower.

“The key, though, is still effort. We need to have every girl playing with the intensity all the way up the whole game instead of just six or seven.”

Detroit will take the field again Saturday for an alumni game at noon at Titan Field, immediately following the men's soccer's alumni game. The regular season then kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 2 as the Titans host Notre Dame College (OH) at 4 p.m.