Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Manhattan
Vote For troy For Senior CLASS Award
 
DETROIT (4/17/2014) -- Another game in New York City is on the docket for the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team as the Titans will begin a two-game road trip to end the regular season at Manhattan on Saturday in a crucial MAAC match-up. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., at Gaelic Park.
 
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 game is pivotal for both squads as they are tied in the league standings at 2-2 and a win by Detroit would clinch a spot in the conference tournament, while a win by the Jaspers would set them up for a top-four finish. A win would also give UDM its sixth victory on the season, tying a school record set in 2011 and 2012
 
Detroit (5-6) lost another heartbreaker last week as the red, white and blue fell for the third time in overtime, 9-8, to first place Siena. UDM has played six one-goal games on the season and is now 3-3 in those affairs.
 
The Titans are still leading the nation in man-up offense at 69.0% (29-of-42), but are now also leading the country with 16.27 saves per game. Detroit has a school record 29 man-up goals on the year, while freshman Jason Weber has posted 41 saves in the last two weeks, including a 2014 NCAA high of 23 against Marist.
 
Following the game, the Titans will close the regular season at first-year program Monmouth next Saturday. The MAAC Championship is set for May 1-3 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on the campus of Marist College.
 
ABOUT MANHATTAN
Manhattan has won two in a row and three of the last five games to enter the weekend at 4-9, 2-2 in the MAAC. The Jaspers two conference victories have come on the road at Marist (14-13) and at home over Monmouth (11-6), while the two losses were on the road to Quinnipiac (10-7) and Canisius (9-4).
 
Manhattan has five players in double digits in points as Ryan Payton tops the team with 22 goals with an assist, while Patrick Hodapp has 23 points on 14 goals and nine helpers.
 
Defenseman Sean McMahon has recorded a team-high 21 caused turnovers with 78 ground balls and Dan McGreevy has tallied 16 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls.
 
Brett Johnson is the faceoff specialist posting a .387 mark (67-113) with 21 GB's.
 
Rich Akapnitis has started all 13 games in net and has an 11.50 goals against average and a .532 save percentage. In 2012, he tied his career high with 19 saves versus the Titans.
           
GREAT DEFENSIVE JOB
UDM limited the MAAC's leading scorer in Siena's Richie Hurley to just one point on an assist last week.
 
ENOUGH OF THE CLOSE GAMES
With any luck or a timely goal or stop, Detroit could easily be undefeated in the MAAC and have eight wins on the season.
 
The Titans have dropped three overtime games, including two in league play, and in all three games the red, white and blue have led in the fourth period.
 
In conference action, Detroit led by one over Quinnipiac until the Bobcats tied it with 1:08 left in the game. Against Siena, UDM was up by one with 4:02 remaining.
 
SAVING UP FOR A RECORD
The Titans have posted 179 saves on the season, just seven away from the school mark of 186 accomplished in 2011.
 
KEEP IT UP
Junior Shayne Adams ran his streak to 43-straight games recording at least one point as he found the back of the net twice against Siena last week.
 
He now has 122 points on 104 goals and 18 assists during this spurt. 
 
The streak is currently tied for the fourth longest in the nation by an active player in Division I.

ON TOP OF THE MAAC
As of the latest NCAA stats released on Monday, the Titans lead the MAAC in three categories, man-up offense (.690), caused turnovers per game (9.00) and saves per game (16.27), while ranking second in points per game (15.91), assists per game (6.55), man-down defense (.688) and shot percentage (.270). UDM also has a conference-best and school record 29 man-up goals.
 
Sophomore Paul Bitetti tops the conference with 2.30 caused turnovers per game, while junior Joe Gifford is seventh at 1.09 per game.
 
Junior Shayne Adams leads in goals per game (2.64), is fourth in points per game (3.18) and sixth in shot percentage (.363), while senior Alex Maini is second in the MAAC in shot percentage (.500), third in points per game (3.36), fifth in assists per game (1.73) and ninth in goals per game (1.64).
 
Senior Tom Masterson is sixth in assists per game (1.55) and ninth in points (2.73), and junior Scott Drummond is seventh in assists (1.18. ).
 
MAN-UP DOMINATION
The Titans have taken advantages of penalties so far scoring on 29-of-42 (69.0%) extra-man opportunities - including 5-of-8 against Marquette, 4-of-5 against Bellarmine and Quinnipiac, and 3-of-4 at VMI - and are now 27 for their last 36.
 
The 69.0% currently ranks first in the nation and is currently shattering the all-time NCAA record of 58.6% (41-of-70) set by North Carolina in 1985.
 
ADAMS FIRST TITAN TO 100
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 now has 18 career hat tricks, tops on the team.
 
With two goals against Siena, he extended his school record to 107 goals, and is second in school history with 125 points.
 
His 107 goals are the 12th most among active players in the country and his 2.38 goals per game is sixth.
 
Below are the top six active leaders in goals per game.
Miles Thompson , Albany - Sr. - 2.83
Brody Eastwood , Stony Brook - So. -  2.72
Dan Lomas , High Point - So. - 2.59
Alex Love , Hobart - Sr. - 2.49
Chris Baxa , Mercer - So. - 2.45
Shayne Adams , Detroit - Jr. - 2.38
 
MAINI FIGHTING TO KEEP SCHOOL RECORD
Senior Alex Maini is the Titan career leader in points and he added to that with a pair of assists versus Siena to come into the game with 139 total points. He currently holds the school record by 14 points over current teammate Shayne Adams' 125. 
 
Maini is also second in school history with 82 goals, trailing Adams by 25, while Maini owns the school assist record as his third helper at RMU gave him 44 at that point to pass former teammate Scott Harris (2009-12) on his way to his current mark of 57.
 
He is currently eighth in the nation in shot percentage (.500), 24th in assists per game (1.73) and 34th in points per game (3.36).
 
ARE YOU SURE YOUR PLAYING WITH ONE LESS?
While scoring goals gets all the attention and the man-up offense is leading the nation, the man-down defense has not been too shabby either ranking 19th in Division I and second in the MAAC in killing off penalties at 68.8%, allowing just 15 goals in 48 attempts.
 
The man-down unit even started the game- winning goal at Wagner in UDM's 9-8 triumph.
 
A NEW SCHOOL RECORD
Freshman Jason Weber may not have won a MAAC award, but he helped the Titans to an important win as he posted a school record 23 saves against Marist on April 5, the most by any one in the NCAA this season.
 
He broke Vince Diana's school mark of 20 at Air Force in 2009, UDM's inaugural season.
 
The 23 saves were also the most by a MAAC goalie since Matt Lindemann had 24 at Virginia last year, and is tied for the second most by a player in the conference since 2009.
 
BITETTI'S TAKING IT AWAY
Sophomore defenseman Paul Bitetti leads the team with 21 caused turnovers and is averaging 2.20 per game, seventh in the NCAA.
 
Bitetti has at least four caused turnovers in three games this year with a career-high five against Bellarmine.
 
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND
Detroit has six players in double figures in points so far and 11 players have posted at least one goal through 11 games.
 
MY "MAIN" MAN
Can it be a fourth-straight year of increased production for senior Alex Maini? A team captain this year, Maini has seen his numbers rise in every collegiate season and he now has a career high with 19 assists this year.
 
Meanwhile, his 37 points is just three away from his career high water mark set last season.
 
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 it looks like Detroit has done just that.
 
Detroit tops the country in saves per game (16.27) and is 11th with 9.00 caused turnovers per game.
 
UDM totaled 17 caused turnovers against Bellarmine, tied for the fourth most in school history and the most since posting 20 against VMI last season.
 
THE WALL OF WEBER
Freshman Jason Weber has taken over the goalie duties at Detroit and he has played great in between the pipes.
 
In eight games - all as a starter - Weber has four wins with 135 saves, a 9.59 goals against average and a .633 save percentage, while collecting 26 ground balls.
 
He has now posted at least 14 saves in seven of his eight starts and came up with a school record 23 against Marist and 18 his last time out against Siena.
 
Weber was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Mar. 24 after stopping 17 shots at Canisius.
 
He made his first collegiate start at VMI on March 1 and finished with 16 saves - six in the fourth period - and allowing just six goals, including none in the final 22 minutes of action, in an 8-6 road triumph.
 
In just his third start, he tallied 18 saves in another road victory at Wagner – tying for the third most in program history and just two away from the school record – including a key save with 30 seconds left that help set up Detroit's game winning shot. Weber started that week by making 15 stops against RV/RV Bellarmine and would end up being named the MAAC Rookie of the Week on March 10.
 
LAX EARNING SOME AWARDS
The Detroit men's lacrosse team won a few awards at the Annual Academic & Athletic Awards Dinner.
 
Junior Troy Dennis received the Reverend Nobert Heutter Award, presented to a male student-athlete who has demonstrated leadership, dedication, cooperation with teammates and coaches, pride in team achievements, determination to excel, and graciousness in victory or defeat.
 
Junior Shayne Adams won the Dad Butler award, presented to a male student-athlete who shows dedication to practice and having the ability to rehabilitate an injury to his fullest capabilities.
 
Seniors Joe MacLean, Tom Masterson and Drew Schupbach were a part of the 27-member Academic Excellence Award winners.
 
These individuals were all seniors who have achieved academic excellence during their time at the University of Detroit Mercy and is given to those student-athletes who have earned at least a 3.0 GPA for every semester they participated in college athletics.
 
THE EXTRA PASS
Detroit ended with 10 assists against Marist on April 5, tying a school record for the third time.
 
UDM also had 10 against Wagner in 2010 and at Quinnipiac in 2012, both wins
 
COMEBACK TITANS
The Titans trailed 5-1 to Marist in the first period but stormed back to win the game, 12-11.
 
The four-goal comeback marked the second biggest margin overcome by the Titans behind the 9-4 score against Siena in last year's MAAC Championship.
 
BIRNEY GOES BOOM
Junior Mike Birney has 15 goals on the season and posted his seventh career hat trick with four goals against Marquette. He also added an assist to tie his career high with five points.
 
Birney has now posted multi-goal outbursts in 11 of his last 19 games 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 18, the All-MAAC midfielder has recorded 33 goals and 41 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 and had two goals his last time out against Siena.
 
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 22 of his last 23 games dating back to last season.
 
He is currently fourth on the team in points (27), fourth in goals (12), and is third with 13 total assists.
 
A MASTER OF HIS PROFESSION
Senior Tom Masterson posted his second career hat trick as the Canadian tied his career with three goals and five points against Marist. He also had that same stat line versus the Red Foxes as a freshman in 2011.
 
He now has 13 goals and a career-high 17 assists and 30 points and has now scored a point in 21-straight games.
 
During this spurt, he has posted 26 goals and 28 assists for 54 points.
 
Masterson is coming off a season in which he ended the year with career highs in goals (13), assists (13) and points (26).
 
ROAD WOES
The Titans are 7-40 all-time in true road games, but one of those was at Siena in 2011.
 
The 13-11 victory in Loudonville, N.Y., was actually the first road win in school history after dropping 23-straight and ended the Saints' 20-game home winning streak.
 
Detroit ended a streak of 13-straight true road losses with an 8-6 win at VMI on March 1, its first true road game win since the it defeated Canisius, 17-12, on Mar. 17, 2012.
 
UDM has now won three in a row on the road matching the school record of three it set in 2012 when the Titans defeated Mercer, Quinnipiac and Canisius.