Box Score

In their first-ever league game as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Detroit Titans gave a valiant effort on the road but just came on the wrong end of an 11-8 outcome on Saturday in Riverdale, NY.

“I thought we came out and played aggressive against a good team in our MAAC opener,” said head coach Matt Holtz. “We had a few mistakes and they capitalized on them, but we showed some great energy out there.”

In all, seven Titans (0-6, 0-1 MAAC) scored on the day, with freshman Joel Matthews (St. Catharines, ON/Holy Cross Secondary) leading the way with two goals and an assist. Sophomore Scott Harris (Saline, MI/Saline) had two points on a goal and an assist and sophomore John Nowicki (Clinton Twp., MI/De La Salle Collegiate) also tallied two points with two helpers.

After seeing Manhattan (3-3, 1-0 MAAC) net the game's first marker, the Titans took the lead with a pair of goals as the first quarter came to an end. Freshman Brandon Davenport (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI/GP North) tied it at one as the rookie midfielder took the face-off and controlled the ball, where he dashed in front of the box and beat the goalkeeper for his first collegiate goal. Two minutes later, sophomore Ty Maruyama (Lakewood, CO/Green Mountain) took a pass from Nowicki and out it past the keeper to give UDM the lead.

Manhattan would take the lead back at 3-2, but goals from freshman Tyler Staruch (Brighton, MI/Brighton) and Matthews would knot the game at 4-all at the half.

The Titans would battle back to tie it one more time in the third quarter as freshman Jordan Houtby (St. Catharines, ON/Holy Cross Secondary), who also had four groundballs, notched a marker off a great assist from Matthews.

However, the Jaspers would score three in a row and six of the next seven goals to put some distance on the Titans and jump out in front, 11-6. The red, white and blue never showed any quit and got two of those scores back in the fourth to silence the home crowd. First, Harris came through with a goal with nine minutes left and, with 7:07 remaining, Matthews was able to put in his second of the game and 19th of the year.

Sophomore A.J. Levell (Columbus, OH/Dublin Scioto) played well in net for the Titans, coming away with 11 saves and a team-high eight groundballs.

The Titans won the battle of the groundballs, 45-43, with senior Chris Butts (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead), junior Tim Shoemaker (Rochester, MI/Rochester), freshman Jamie Hebden (Farmington Hills, MI/Brother Rice) and each scooping up four GB's, with Davenport adding five, including 11 face-off wins. Detroit also forced 28 turnovers led by Houtby's six and sophomore Jason McDonald's (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) four.

The red, white and blue will now have a quick turnaround as UDM opens a two-game home stand on Monday against Presbyterian at 3:00 p.m.