Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Wagner

DETROIT (3/6/2014) -- Just two non-conference games are left and this one will take the Titans all the way to New York as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team heads to Staten Island to face the Wagner Seahawks on Saturday. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., at Wagner College Stadium.

Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through the men's lacrosse GAMEDAY CENTRAL page 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.

The Titans took on a tough opponent its last time out in Bellarmine – who is receiving votes in both the media and coaches poll – but the Knights were able to put a run together in the third and hold off UDM, 12-8, in a game that was moved indoors to Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac.

Alex Maini led the way with four points on two goals and two assists as he extended his school record to 120 total points. He is currently in the top 30 among active players in points, goals and assists. Junior Shayne Adams extended his school record to 92 goals, 13th most among active players, while his 2.39 goals per game is 13th.

Sophomore defenseman Paul Bitetti tallied a career-high five caused turnovers his last time out and is among the nation's leaders at 3.75 per game with his 15 total on the year, while freshman Jason Weber has started the last two games in net coming away with 31 saves.

After the game, UDM will return home for its last non-conference contest as the red, white and blue hosts Jesuit-rival Marquette next Saturday, Mar. 15. Game time is set for Noon.

ONE OF TWO TRIPS TO THE BIG APPLE
UDM's travel to Wagner will be the first of two trips to New York City as the Titans play at MAAC-rival Manhattan later in the year.

It is also one of three trips that Detroit will make out east with Manhattan and new MAAC member Monmouth also on the schedule.

VS. THE NEC
Detroit is 1-9 all-time against current teams from the Northeast Conference with the lone win over Wagner in 2010. UDM did have a win over Quinnipiac in 2012, but the Bobcats are now a member of the MAAC.

The Titans have lost all five meetings to Robert Morris, twice to Mount St. Mary's, and a game apiece to Bryant and St. Joseph's.

DETROIT VS. WAGNER
This is not the first time these two programs have met as Detroit defeated Wagner in its only other match-up, 14-7, back in 2010 when the Seahawks were part of the MAAC and the Titans were in their first year as a conference member.

That game took place in the Motor City with Detroit jumping out to a 6-1 lead at the break.

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS
Wagner is 1-2 on the season losing to Rutgers, 20-5, and Saint Joseph's, 12-8, with its lone win over Monmouth, 7-6, in four overtimes.

Patrick McMenamin leads the offense with seven points on two goals and five assists. Paul DeVita tops the team with six goals and Griffen LeClaire has six points on two markers and four helpers.

William McMenamin is 30-of-57 (52.6%) on faceoffs and has a team-high 25 ground balls.

Daniel Valencia leads all defensive players with seven caused turnovers and Nicholas Gibaldi has started all three games in net posting an 11.57 goals against average and a .385 save percentage.

DENNIS SELECTED AS A SENIOR CLASS AWARD® CANDIDATE
Senior Troy Dennis of the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team received a great honor as he was one of 20 NCAA® lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were selected as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate men's lacrosse.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

PUNISHING THEIR MISTAKES
The Titans have taken advantages of penalties so far scoring on 14-of-21 (66.7%) extra-man opportunities - including 4-of-5 against Bellarmine and 3-of-4 at VMI - and are 12-of-15 in their last four games.

The NCAA stats released earlier in the week, had UDM third in the nation at 62.5%, but the Titans have now run it up to 66.7%.

NO CHEAP ONES
As the Titans have taken advantage offensively of man-up situations, the defense has been just as strong allowing just five goals in 21 opportunities for a 23.8%, including killing off a three-minute non-releasable penalty at VMI.

They began the week 12th in the nation in man-down defense.

KEEP IT UP
Junior Shayne Adams ran his streak to 36-straight games recording at least one point as he tallied a goal late against Bellarmine. He has 101 points on 89 goals and 12 assists during this spurt.

The streak is currently the fifth longest in the nation by an active player in Division I.

45 - Jordan Wolf, Duke, Sr., A - 101-71-172
42 - Kieran McArdle, St. John's, Sr., A - 87-108-195
40 - Miles Thompson, Albany, Sr., A - 112-67-178
38 - Ryan Walsh, Colgate, Jr., A - 87-40-127
37 - Shayne Adams, Detroit, Sr., A - 89-12-101

MAINI FIGHTING TO KEEP SCHOOL RECORD
Senior Alex Maini began the 2014 campaign as the Titan career leader in points and he has added to that with four points on two goals and two assists against Bellarmine to come into the game with 120 total points. He currently holds the school record by 16 points over current teammate Shayne Adams' 104.

Maini is also second in school history with 70 goals, trailing Adams by 22, while Maini also now owns the school assists record as his third helper at RMU gave him 44 at that point to pass former teammate Scott Harris (2009-12) as he now has 50.

ONE MORE STREAK
Junior Shayne Adams extended his double-digit streak in goals scored by adding a marker against Bellarmine with the man-up in the fourth period.

Adams is currently fifth among active players in Division I with a goal in 18-straight games. During this span, Adams has 44 total goals.

Below are the current top 5 active streaks
26 - Tommy McKee, Air Force, A, Sr. - 56
23 - Brandon Mangan, Yale, A, Sr. - 52
20 - Brandon Benn, Johns Hopkins, A, Sr. - 51
20 - Mark Cockerton, Virginia, A, Sr. - 71
18 - Shayne Adams, Detroit, A, R-Jr. - 44

OH CANADA
Junior Shayne Adams put together quite a show in the first half at Robert Morris as he scored five goals in the first 30 minutes.

The five markers were two away from his school record of seven he set against Mercer in 2011, and with his three goals last week, Adams now has 16 hat tricks in his career, most among Titan players.

RELOADING THE DEFENSE
The Titans knew they had to build their defense back up after the graduation of a number of key starters and players from last year's NCAA Tournament team and after the first five games, it looks like Detroit has the right pieces to do just that.

UDM is coming off a game that it had 17 caused turnovers, tied for the fourth most in school history and the most since posting 20 against VMI last season.

Coming into this week, Detroit was 14th in the nation in caused turnovers at 9.75.

BITETTI'S TAKING IT AWAY
Sophomore defenseman Paul Bitetti leads the team with 15 caused turnovers and is averaging 3.75 per game, which currently leads the NCAA.

Bitetti has at least four caused turnovers in three of the four games he has played, including a career-high five against Bellarmine this past Tuesday.

Junior teammate Joe Gifford is second on the team with nine caused turnovers, while senior Troy Davis and redshirt freshman JD Hess have four apiece.

A MASTER OF HIS PROFESSION
Senior Tom Masterson has five goals and 10 assists through five games and has now scored a point in 15-straight games.

During this spurt, he has posted 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points.

Masterson is coming off a season in which he ended the year with career highs in goals (13), assists (13) and points (26).

BIRNEY GOES BOOM
Junior Mike Birney has seven goals in the first five games and posted his sixth career hat trick with three goals against Michigan.

With his two goals against Bellarmine, Birney has now posted multi-goal games in 10 of his last 13 games and 11 of his last 15 dating back to last season.

Birney earned All-MAAC Second Team and was the Most Outstanding Player at the 2013 MAAC Championship, where he recorded eight goals and had a pair of game winners and a career-high five in the title game.

He scored a goal in 14 of UDM's 15 games last season, including 12 in a row to end the campaign, and had multiple goals on nine occasions with five hat tricks and that career performance of five in the MAAC Championship comeback against Siena.

MORE BIRNEY BITES
Junior Mike Birney had just 12 goals and 19 points in his first 19 collegiate games, but in his last 13, the All-MAAC midfielder has recorded 30 goals and 36 points.

THE BEAT OF HIS DRUM
Junior Scott Drummond was one of the unsung heroes in last year's run to the MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance and he started the season with a bang tying his career high with five points and three assists against Mercer. He then added a goal and two helpers against Michigan.

He saw his streak of 14-straight games with at least one point come to an end at Robert Morris, but has one point in 16 of his last 17 games dating back to last season.

BO KNOWS OFFENSE
Junior Brandon Beauregard ended his sophomore season in fine fashion as he tallied his first career hat trick at No. 2 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Championship and then had two more against Mercer last Sunday.

In his career, Beauregard has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points.

STANDING TALL IN SHOOTING BARRAGE
The Titans have been outshot, 205-183, on the year, but did come up with a big win while being outgunned.

In the season opener against Mercer, UDM was outshoot, 38-29, yet Detroit was able to withstand that for a win. It was only the fourth time in school history that UDM won a game despite being outshot.

The nine-shot margin was also the second most in a win behind the 39-23 advantage that Marist had in the Titans' 9-8 win in the MAAC Semifinals in 2011.

BRING IN THE POLE
Sophomore Jordan Yono did some extra work besides his defensive duties against Michigan.

Yono stepped in at faceoffs and helped Detroit win seven of its eight total victories.

WELCOME BACK
Junior Shayne Adams - a Tewaaraton Award watch list member at the beginning of last season as well as a two-time All-MAAC selection and the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2011 - returned to action after missing the last 11 games last year with a hat trick in the season opener against Mercer and then found the back of the net twice against Michigan, five more at Robert Morris and three at VMI.

With a goal at Bellarmine his last time out, he has extended his school record to 92 goals, while the point has him second in school history with 104 points, just 16 behind the school leader in current teammate Alex Maini.

ANOTHER GREAT DEBUT
For the third time in four games, the Titans had a new netminder in between the pipes and that goalie came up with a big game as freshman Jason Weber made his collegiate debut with a win at VMI.

Weber made 16 saves - six in the fourth period - and allowed just six goals, including none in the final 22 minutes of action.

He came back strong in goal in his next start against Bellarmine posting 15 saves.

He is just the second Titan to ever win in his collegiate debut following redshirt freshman Connor Flynn in the season opener

WESLEY WORKS
Sophomore Shannen Wesley posted his second-straight game with a goal as he beat the keeper against Bellarmine this past Tuesday.

He now has two goals on just nine shots after totaling just three points a season ago on two assists and one marker.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
The Titans have 55 losses in their program's history, but nearly half of those have been by four goals or less, including nine by one goal, five by two and another eight by three.

UDM has suffered 13 of its losses to conferences foes by four goals or less, with six one-goal games, four three-goal setbacks and three two-goal defeats.