Gameday Central

DETROIT (9/11/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team is set to play in its second-straight weekend tournament of the 2014 season, as the Titans will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the UNLV Nike Invitational. The Titans play at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday against Cal State Fullerton, before playing the host UNLV Rebels on Sunday at 4 p.m. local time.

UNLV Nike Invitational
All four games will be played on the campus of UNLV at Johann Field. The tournament features a four-team field of Detroit, Cal State Fullerton, UNLV and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Titans are playing in the first game on both Friday and Sunday.

Live video streaming and live statistics will be available for all four weekend matches at the tournament. The links for both contests can be found on the Gameday Central pages prior to each contest.

All-Tournament Team Honors
Sophomore midfielder Aidan Kuhls and freshman forward Spiro Pliakos were each named to the Dayton Flyer Classic All-Tournament Team following their play in the tournament last weekend (Sept. 5-7). Pliakos made his first two collegiate starts and had two early shots against Northern Kentucky.

Kuhls was an integral part of the midfield over the weekend as Detroit didn't allow a goal against Northern Kentucky during regulation on Friday.

Scouting Cal State Fullerton
It's a battle of the Titans on Friday, as the Detroit Titans battle the Cal State Fullerton Titans in the opener of the tournament. Cal State Fullerton (0-2-2) is still searching for its first win of the season. Fullerton has played in three overtime games already in 2014 and has earned 0-0 ties at San Diego and against Northwestern. Cal State Fullerton also lost a 3-2 match at UIC and dropped a 2-1 home contest vs. San Francisco.

Cal State Fullerton returns its top six scorers from the 2013 season, including senior midfielder Ian Ramos (four goals, three assists), senior midfielder Garrett Losee (three goals, seven points) and senior forward Amara Sourah (three goals). Head coach George Kuntz is in his first season at the helm of the Titans after spending 19 seasons at UC Irvine.

CSFU junior Julian Okai and Sourah each have a goal to lead the team. Okai paces the squad with nine shots overall. Junior goalkeeper Jeff Salt has played every minute in net for the Titans and has a goals against average of 1.12 and a save percentage of 80.0 percent. Cal State Fullerton has the same amount of shots (41) as its opponents do (41) through the first four games of the season.

Scouting UNLV
UNLV (4-0) hasn't dropped a contest early in the 2014 season, earning two shutout victories. The 4-0 start marks the first time since 1985 that the Rebels have won their first four matches of the season. UNLV has scored four goals in each of its past three games and is out-scoring its opponents so far, 14-3.

Senior forward Bernal Salvador has notched five goals and one assist through four games for UNLV. He leads the squad with 17 shots, 10 of them on goal. Junior defender Andy Rodriguez has added two goals for the Rebels, while junior forward Corey Ackey has one goal and two assists. Senior goalkeeper Ryan Harding has made all four starts in goal and has made eight saves in net.

UNLV head coach Rich Ryerson is in his fifth season as head coach of the Rebels. He led UNLV to a record of 7-10-2 last season. 

All-Time Series
The Titans have met both Cal State Fullerton and UNLV one time previously. The Titans last played Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 2, 2007, dropping a 1-0 match in Fullerton, California.

Detroit's one meeting with UNLV came during the 1999 season. UDM fell 4-3 on Sept. 10, 1999, in a match played in Las Vegas.

First Collegiate Goals
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.

Youth League Day
Detroit will host an on-field clinic Saturday, Sept. 27 prior to its home opener vs. Wright State. Youth soccer players between the ages of 9 and 12 are invited to participate in the event, which will be led in part by UDM soccer players. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and the clinic will start at 10 a.m. Afterwards, the kids are invited to take in the match, which begins at 1 p.m.

Titans Selected to Finish in Tie for Seventh in Conference
The Titans were picked to finish in a tie for seventh place in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released prior to the season on Aug. 20. Detroit earned 16 votes in the poll, finishing in a tie for seventh with Belmont. Milwaukee received six first-place votes and is the favorite to win the league. UIC also earned three first-place votes and ranked second behind Milwaukee in the poll.

Upcoming Schedule
Detroit has two more road matches before its first home game of the season. The Titans travels to New York for a pair of games next weekend, visiting Buffalo on Sept. 19 before facing Niagara on Sept. 21. Detroit will then host Wright State on Sept. 27 for its conference and home opener at Titan Field.

Social Media
Titan fans don't forget to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook.