Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (9/12/2014) -- Spiro Pliakos scored his first collegiate goal in the late minutes of the second half Friday to help lead the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the opener of the UNLV Nike Invitational at Johann Field.

The Titans improved to 2-2 with the victory under the bright lights of Las Vegas. Pliakos (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Rochester), a freshman making his third career start, scored off feeds from Detroit sophomore Aidan Kuhls (Kansas City, Mo. / Bishop Miege) and junior Matt Harkema (Hudsonville, Mich. / Unity Christian) in the 81st minute to break a 1-1 tie.

Cal State Fullerton (0-3-2) made a strong offensive push in the final minutes of the game, but goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stevenson) and the Titan defense came up with several clutch saves to clinch the win.

"We were very good today. It's a huge win," UDM head coach Nicholas Deren '99 said. "Traveling 1,500 miles and with the change of weather, it was 99 degrees today, that's not easy to play in. We had a lot of factors going against us and we battled through and really came together as a team and played for each other. The quality of our play showed at the end of the game."

Detroit trailed in the first half as Cal State Fullerton scored the first goal of the game in the 33rd minute. The Titans came back with a goal of their own just 10 minutes later right before halftime. Senior Matt Ybarra (Irvine, Calif. / Ann Arbor Huron) lofted a free kick from 40 yards out to the front post and junior Jason Leslie (Troy, Mich. / Troy) beat the goalkeeper to the ball and headed it in for the goal. Leslie's first goal of the season knotted the game up 1-1.

The Titans came out firing in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as sophomore Tyler Moorman (Caledonia, Mich. / East Kentwood) hit the crossbar with a shot in the 56th minute. Detroit finished with nine shots in the second half overall and 16 for the game. UDM had eight shots on goal, a season-high total.

Pliakos had three shots to lead the Titans, including two shots on goal. Moorman and junior defender Jacob Prud'homme (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon) were each were credited with two shots during the contest, while Steinwascher made seven saves in goal for the Titans.

Detroit has one more game in Las Vegas, playing tournament host UNLV at 1 p.m. local time Sunday.