Box Score

DETROIT (10/15/13) – It may have took longer than expected, but the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team finally got its first victory on Titan Field defeating Western Michigan 2-0 on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon.
 
Detroit (3-6-4, 0-3 Horizon League) was on the aggressive early, dominating possession of the ball in the opening half. A pair of Titan captains connected midway through the first half, when junior Matt Ybarra sent a cross from the left side of the pitch to a waiting Adam Bedell. Bedell beat the Western Michigan (4-7, 2-0 MAC) keeper with a bending shot to the top left corner to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
 
"Season was a bit of a slow start, but its getting easy now," said co-captain Matt Ybarra. "Pushing up a little bit more working with Adam Bedell is a bit easy, just get him the ball to him and he will score," Ybarra added.
 
Going into the half, the Broncos held a 5-3 advantage in shots and a 5-1 advantage in corner opportunities.
 
Things got going quickly for UDM coming out of halftime, as the Titans were back on the attack. For the second time in the match, Ybarra found a sitting Bedell, and just like the first time, Bedell captitalized on the opportunity and cashed in to secure his second goal of the match and eighth of the season.
 
Junior goalkeeper, Nathan Steinwascher was key for the Titan defense, securing his third shutout of the season and the first since a 0-0 draw on Sept. 8 against Robert Morris in the 2013 Mayor's Cup at Hartwick College. Steinwascher finished the match with three saves, but the box score did not reflect the many ways the junior goalkeeper impacted the match.
 
"Conference comes down to a lot of battling," said Ybarra. So in practice we work on organization and finishing, but ultimately it comes down to competing hard, and we'll see how it goes."
 
UDM will move back into Horizon League play as the Titans head to Wisconsin to face Green Bay on Sept. 19 still searching for that elusive first conference win.
 
Titan fans, remember to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook.
 
Game Notes
Ybarra entered the match third on the team in assists, but adding two pushed the junior from Irvine, Calif. ahead of Bedell and Kevin Pinkos for the team lead … With two goals, Bedell secured his third multi-goal game of the season after a pair against Buffalo (9/20) and IPFW (10/1) … With the win over Western Michigan, UDM has now won three consecutive non-conference matches.