Gameday Central

DETROIT (10/23/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team plays host to Cleveland State at 1:00 p.m., on Saturday. It'll be Senior Day at Titan Field and the Titans will also wear pink in support of the fight against Breast Cancer.

Four seniors -- Trevor Flynn, Jesus Ginez, Cameron Roberts and Matt Ybarra -- will be honored prior to the contest against the Vikings. The senior quartet has combined to start 122 games during their careers in the red, white and blue.

The Titans are currently in second place in the Horizon League standings with a 5-1 record. Detroit is also ranked No. 9 in the Great Lakes region of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Poll. It's believed to be the highest since 2006 when the Titans were ranked as high as No. 3 in the regional rankings during the season.

Detroit is also No. 68 in the most recent RPI rankings, which were released on Monday (Oct. 20). UDM is the third highest-ranked Horizon League team behind Valparaiso (No. 25) and UIC (No. 67).

Last Time Out
The Titans tied Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night. Detroit and Michigan each finished with 16 shots for the match, while five cards were issued throughout the 110 minutes played. Goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher made a season-high tying eight saves during the game, including three in overtime.

The shutout was Detroit's third straight. The Titans earned shutout victories over Green Bay and Valparaiso in its previous two matches. In all, the Titans haven't allowed a goal in more than 321 minutes.

National/League Leaders
Detroit ranks 55th in the nation and second in the Horizon League in goals against average (0.94). The Titans are also 18th in the country in save percentage (83.5%). In net, Nathan Steinwascher is 19th in the country and first in the league in saves (63). Steinwascher also ranks first in the conference in save percentage (82.9%) and saves per game (4.85).

Spiro Pliakos is second in the league and tied for 12th in the nation with seven assists. He is also third in the Horizon League with 13 points.

Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings (5-8, 3-2 HL) enter Saturday's game against the Titans with three 1-0 losses in their past four games, including league defeats to Oakland and Valparaiso. CSU also has a 3-1 victory at Wright State in that stretch. Cleveland State has played well away from home this season, earning four of its five victories on the road.

Alec Nagucki leads the squad with three goals and six points, and Alvaro Pichardo, Dan Koniarczyk and Sergio Manesio have all each scored two goals this season for the Vikings. Nick Ciraldo has started 12 of the 13 games in net and has a 1.89 GAA and 67.6 save percentage with a pair of shutouts.

Ali Kazemaini has 59 victories in nine seasons as the head coach of the Cleveland State men's soccer team.

All-Time Series
UDM holds a 15-9-1 record all-time against Cleveland State. Detroit dropped a 5-2 contest against CSU last season, but won the last meeting in Detroit between the two programs. The Titans earned a 3-1 victory on Sept. 22, 2012, as Adam Bedell scored twice in the match.

Honors for Steinwascher
Goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher was selected as the Outstanding Defensive Player at the UNLV Nike Invitational after helping lead the Titans to the tournament win. Steinwascher recorded his first shutout of the season in the 0-0 tie against UNLV in the tournament's second game. Steinwascher also made seven saves in Detroit's 2-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the opener of the tournament. Steinwascher faced 32 shots overall on the weekend and finished the event with 11 saves in net. Additionally, he was named the Horizon League Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 15.

Steinwascher was also named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29 after helping lead UDM to a 2-1 win vs. Wright State. Steinwascher made three saves in the game and helped limit a potent WSU offense that entered league play second in shots and goals.

First Collegiate Goals
Five Titans have scored their first collegiate goals this season. Sophomore midfielders Adam Clauss and Matt DeVries each scored their first collegiate goals in Detroit's season-opening victory at Western Michigan. DeVries scored the game's first goal in the second half against the Broncos, while Clauss scored the game-winning tally in overtime. Clauss, who missed his freshman season because of an injury, was also playing in his first career game for the Titans.

Freshman midfielder Spiro Pliakos added his first collegiate goal in UDM's win over Cal State Fullerton. His tally in the 81st minute also proved to be the game-winning goal. Sophomore midfielder Tommy Bowman also found the back of the net for his first goal at UDM, scoring in the 45th minute, just seven seconds before halftime, at Buffalo.

Freshman forward Don Nakashima is the fifth Titan to record his first career goal this season. Nakashima scored the game-winning goal in Detroit's 2-1 victory in its league-opener against Wright State on Sept. 27.

Upcoming Schedule
Detroit has two straight home games, beginning with Cleveland State on Saturday and followed by Bowling Green on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Detroit finishes the regular season with three road contests in seven days, playing at Belmont on Nov. 1 and at IUPUI on Nov. 4. UDM wraps up its regular season on the road again, traveling to Milwaukee to face the Panthers on Nov. 7.

Social Media
Titan fans don't forget to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook. Also follow the UDM men's soccer Twitter account at @UDMSoccer.