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YPSILANTI, Mich. (8/23/13) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team kicked off the 2013 regular season Friday evening at Eastern Michigan University but fell 3-2 to the EMU Eagles despite a pair of goals from junior Haley Burtraw.

Burtraw had both goals for the Titans (0-1) with junior Alyssa Lotito drawing an assist on the first UDM goal of the day. Detroit led twice during the game but each time the home team came back with a counter. Two goals close together in the second half helped the Eagles (1-0) hold on for the victory as the Titans struggled to hold possession throughout the game.

"We talked to the girls after the game in regards to not being sharp offensively," said UDM women's head coach Mike Lupenec. "The bottom line is if you don't keep the ball, you're going to be chasing the ball and it's going to make it difficult to score goals. Some girls kept the ball well today and other girls didn't do a good job of getting balls to feet and running off the ball and getting more movement offensively."

The Titans took an early lead with a goal in the seventh minute of the game as Burtraw took a nice pass from Lotito in the middle of the field. Burtraw made a nice move on a defender and took her shot from just inside the 18-yard box, sending it home into the lower right corner of the net.

Eastern Michigan would tie the game 1-1 before UDM took the lead on Burtraw's second of the day. Lotito also played a major role taking a corner kick from the right side and after the ball came down in the six-yard box and the ensuing  shuffle, Burtraw found the loose ball and tapped it in over the goal line to give Detroit a 2-1 lead at the 58:34 mark of the second half.

The home team would pull ahead with a goal in the 63rd minute to tie the game with the winner coming in the 68th minute.

EMU held an 18-14 overall shooting advantage.

"It's early in the season and the mistakes we made can be corrected and I also think the effort was there for us today," said Lupenec. "We can't worry about losing the first game of the season with 17 more left. We have to pull our socks up and get back to work tomorrow and get ready for Central Michigan on Sunday."

The Titans next game will be this Sunday as the team will travel to Mount Pleasant to take on Central Michigan for a 5:00 p.m. start.