DETROIT (3/4/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will play its second game in three days and begin its Atlantic Sun Conference season on Wednesday evening as the Titans will head south to Elon, North Carolina to take on the Elon Phoenix with game time at 7:00 p.m. ET.
 
Gameday Central
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through Women's Lacrosse Gameday Central located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. Women's Lacrosse Gameday Central also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.
 
Last Time Out
The last game for Detroit was on Sunday vs. Marquette that saw the Titans fall 15-9 in the 2014 home opener for UDM. The game was played indoors at the Field House at Detroit Country Day. Sophomore Kylie Birney had four goals, freshman Kelsi Pritchard had the first collegiate points of her career with two goals and two assists, junior Tessa Keuler scored two goals and had a team-high three ground balls, and sophomore Michaela Schwartz had a goal and two assists for the Titans.  Sophomore Morgan Miller had two caused turnovers to lead the Titan defensive attack. Junior goalkeeper Lexie McCormick made 10 saves and had two ground balls for Detroit
 
Between the Pipes
Lexie McCormick now has 355 saves in 39 career games with UDM and is Detroit's all-time career leader in saves. She had 10 saves vs. Marquette on Sunday to break the old mark of 346 held by Brett Yenger who played for the Titans in 2009 and 2010, the first two years of women's lacrosse at Detroit. McCormick is already the UDM school leader in career goaltender victories with 13. McCormick entered this week's NCAA weekly rankings in third place in saves per game with 12 per contest. She is also 15th in the nation in total saves with 36 and 26th in ground balls with three per game.
 
Milestone Markers
Junior Tessa Keuler has 33 career assists, third on the school's all-time career list and just eight away from tying the school's all-time career leader Zaynib Hamze with 41. Head Coach Laura Maness is also two wins away from tying and three from becoming UDM's all-time leader in coaching wins.
 
One Year Wonder
The Elon Phoenix is a first-year program in its first year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. It will also be the last year for Elon in the A-Sun with the school moving into the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2014-15 season. The Phoenix are 1-3 in 2014 falling to No. 6 Duke 25-4 in the season opener and falling 13-9 to former National Lacrosse Conference and Titan rival Liberty by a 13-9 score. The other loss was a 17-7 defeat for Elon at Virginia Tech before the program's first ever win against Saint Francis (Pa.) this past Saturday with a 16-7 victory. Freshman Sloane Kessler was named the Atlantic Sun's Player of the Week on Monday after scoring five goals in the team's win over Saint Francis.
 
Remembering 2013
The Titans finished 5-14 overall in 2013 but 3-1 in the Atlantic Sun and entered the A-Sun Championship as the No. 2 seed and fell to the top seed Jacksonville in the finals. The Titans swept the A-Sun individual awards handed out on Wednesday as graduated senior Zaynib Hamze was named the Player of the Year and Lexie McCormick garnered the Defensive Player of the Year award. In addition, a total of eight Titans were named to either the All-Conference First or Second Team, three players were named to the All-Conference Freshmen Team.
 
Welcome Back
The Titans return two of its top three scorers in 2014 in senior Erin Campbell (39 goals, 50 points) and junior Tessa Keuler (40 points). Also returning on this year's squad is McCormick and junior defenders Amanda Guthrie (team-high 55 ground balls) and on-the-field leader Taylor Marshall along with sophomore returners Morgan Miller (named to All-Conference Freshman team in 2013) and Ally Shrader (19 games played as a freshman). Also returning will be sophomores Kylie Birney and Michaela Schwartz (both named to All-Conference Freshman team in 2013), Jenna Payne, and Ty Dykes. Redshirt junior Morgan Lear (24 ground balls in 2012) also returns to the squad after missing all of last season with an injury and will be making her debut in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2014.
 
Newcomers
Eight newcomers will join the Titans including graduate student Vittoria Wallace who came to Detroit in January 2014 after transferring from Oakland University where she played club lacrosse her previous three academic years. Redshirt junior Annie Mendoza will also be making her debut in 2014 as a Titan this year after transferring to Detroit for the 2012-13 academic year but missed the entire 2013 season due to an injury. Six freshmen in Miklain Huntsman, Kelsi Pritchard, Julie Castner, Annelise Niermann, Lauren Sharkey, and Jaclyn Snyder will look to make their mark with the Titans in 2014. Assistant Coach Jake Marmul will also make his Titan debut in 2014 after serving in the same role with the University of Notre Dame women's lacrosse team last year.
 
2014 Preseason Coaches Poll
Detroit grabbed 28 points and was pegged to finish second behind Jacksonville and its 36 votes.  Stetson was third with 25 points. Campbell, Guthrie and McCormick were picked to represent the Titans on the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun Team. Lear and Mendoza were named to the A-Sun Newcomer Watch List.
 
Home Cooking
The Titans had just five home games in 2013 compared to 11 on the road. Detroit will look to have a home field advantage in 2014 with nine home contests including an in-state match-up with the first-year varsity program Michigan Wolverines on April 16. With nine home games for the Titans, it will be the largest home schedule Detroit has ever had in its history with the second largest in 2011 when UDM had eight home games.
 
State of the Atlantic Sun
2014 will be the second year of women's lacrosse action in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Conference will feature six teams including Detroit, Elon, Howard, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville, and Stetson. Elon will be leaving the A-Sun for the Colonial Athletic Association in 2015 but Furman, Mercer, and Old Dominion will join the A-Sun. In 2016, the A-Sun will be nine teams strong as Central Michigan will join the league.
 
Next Up
Detroit will have three games next week with two at Titan Field. The first two games are at home with UDM hosting Robert Morris on Sunday, March 9 with game time set for 12:00 p.m. Detroit will then welcome Delaware State on Tuesday with another 12:00 p.m. start before heading to Niagara Falls, N.Y where the Titans will face Niagara on March 14 at 3:00 p.m.
 
Social Media
Titan fans don't forget to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook at Detroit Titans. You can also follow the women's lacrosse team on Twitter @DetroitWL and on Facebook at Detroit Titan Women's Lacrosse.