DETROIT (10/2/2015) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team returns to Horizon League play Saturday night, traveling to Cleveland State for a 7 p.m. battle with the Vikings on ESPN3.com. The Titans (3-2-5, 0-0-2 HL) are unbeaten in their last six matches (3-0-3) and are looking for their first conference win of the season at Krenzler Field.

Detroit is coming off three-straight draws, the most recent of which came in a 0-0 tie with visiting Western Michigan University. The Titans had previously earned draws against conference foes Valparaiso and Northern Kentucky at Titan Field.
 

Game 11  |  Detroit (3-2-5, 0-0-2 HL) vs. Cleveland State (3-5, 0-2 HL)
Dates	Saturday, Oct. 3  |  7:00 p.m.
Locations	Detroit, Mich.  |  Titan Field  |  Admission is Free
Live Stats	CSUVikings.com
Stream / TV	ESPN3.com & WatchESPN
Social Media	Twitter (In-game tweets): @DetroitTitans  |  @UDMSoccer  |  Facebook     Instagram  |  Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	Detroit leads, 16-9-1  |  Last Meeting: Detroit 3, Cleveland State 0 (10/25/14)

Titan Tidbits
• Detroit is unbeaten in its last six matches (3-0-3), which is the second-longest streak in the Horizon League. Valparaiso is currently on a seven-match unbeaten streak (5-0-2).
• The Titans have played in six overtimes matches so far this season (0-1-5), including all five of its home contests in overtime.
• UDM has given up just one goal in its past three games, recording two shutouts in that span. Two of those matches were against regionally-ranked squads.
• Steinwascher is No. 2 on the active career saves list in Division I with 293 career saves. He ranks third in the Horizon League with 37 total saves and 4.11 saves per game.
• The Titans have allowed one or fewer goals in nine of their 10 matches this season.
• Detroit's 28 shots against Northern Kentucky is the highest total by a team in a Horizon League match this year.
• Jason Leslie and Jacob Prud'homme have played every single minute (1006) in all 10 matches so far this season.
• Pliakos, who had a four-match assist streak earlier this season, ranks second in the league with four assists. He had a career-high nine shots vs. Northern Kentucky.
• Tyler Moorman is tied for second in the league with four goals, a career-high. He entered the season with two career goals.
• The Titans have had two Horizon League Player of the Weeks this season. Nathan Steinwascher was named the HL Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21, while Spiro Pliakos was selected as the HL Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 14.

Stat of the Week
68 - The Titans lead the Horizon League with 68 corner kicks entering the weekend. Detroit is also third in the conference with 129 shots.

Scouting Cleveland State
Cleveland State has won three of its last five matches after starting the season 0-3. CSU defeated Cincinnati 3-1 but dropped its most recent match against Horizon League opponent Valparaiso, 1-0. Both of CSU's Horizon League defeats have been by 1-0 scores. The Vikings have been out-shot this season, 108-73, which also giving up 15 goals in eight matches.

All-Time Series
Detroit leads the all-time series with Cleveland State, 16-9-1. The Titans haven't won at Cleveland State since 2007, but earned a 3-0 victory over the Vikings in 2014. UDM is 4-7-1 in games played in Cleveland against the Vikings. Spiro Pliakos, Adam Clauss and Jacob Prud'homme all scored goals for the Titans in last season's win over CSU.

Steinwascher Chosen as Candidate for Senior Class Award
Senior goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher has been chosen as one of 30 candidates for the 2015 Senior Class Award in Divison I men's soccer. 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. The complete list of candidates follows this release. Steinwascher is the only Horizon League soccer student-athlete -- men's or women's -- to be among the 2015 candidates for the award.

The Sterling Heights, Mich. native has already completed his undergraduate degree in Accounting with a 3.63 GPA. He's currently enrolled in an MBA program and holds a 3.46 GPA. The candidate classes for the Senior Class Award will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and those 10 names will be placed on an official ballot. Ballots will then be distributed nationwide to media, coaches and fans who will select one male and one female candidate that best exemplifies the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition.

2014 Season Recap
The Titans return eight starters from a team that earned a share of the Horizon League regular-season title and finished with a 9-7-4 record in 2014. Detroit welcomes back nearly its entire back line as well as the 2014 Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year and HL Defensive Player of the Year in senior keeper Nathan Steinwascher. Steinwascher helped lead the squad to its lowest goals against average (0.89) in program history. The squad allowed just 19 goals in 20 games in 2014 and recorded seven shutouts.

Most of the offense is back, too, as Detroit returns nine of 10 players who scored goals in 2014. Juniors Adam Clauss and Matt Harkema, along with sophomore Spiro Pliakos, all tied for the team lead with four goals each in 2014. All three of them return in 2015. Pliakos led the Titans in scoring with 15 points and was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and All-Horizon League First Team last season. Pliakos also had a team-high three game-winning goals for Detroit last season.

Titans Selected to Finish Fifth in Horizon League
The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team was selected to finish fifth in the Horizon League as the 2015 preseason poll. The poll was voted on by the league's head coaches. Detroit, which earned a share of the Horizon League regular-season title in 2014, received 47 points in the poll.

The reigning league champions, Oakland, was picked to finish first after earning five of 10 first-place votes. Four different teams collected first-place votes in the poll. Valparaiso (64 points) and Wright State (63 points) were behind the Golden Grizzlies in second and third, respectively, each garnering two first-place tallies. Milwaukee received the final first place vote and was selected ahead of Detroit with 52 points.

Head Coach
Detroit men's soccer head coach Nicholas Deren '99 returns for his sixth full season in 2015. He has earned two regular season titles in the past three seasons with the Titans, helping lead Detroit to the outright title in 2012 before leading the team to a share in 2014. He has 42 victories in his head coaching tenure at Detroit, including 19 in Horizon League play.

Record Books
Senior goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher entered his senior season in the top-three in several statistical categories. Steinwascher is third all-time in total saves at 293 and is 66 behind Titan Hall of Famer Kal Kaliszewski for second in saves. Steinwascher's 16 career shutouts is two behind Sasha Boskovic for second and three back of Kaliszewski for the most in Titan history.

Steinwascher also entered 2015 second in career goals against average (1.29) and third in save percentage (77.6) and is among the NCAA active career leader in several statistical categories. He is No. 2 on the active career saves list behind IUPUI's Eduardo Cortes and sixth in saves per game (4.56).

Up Next
Following its clash with the Vikings, the Titans return to the pitch on Saturday, Oct. 10 for a road contest at Green Bay. The game is slated for a 8 p.m. ET start. Detroit is currently in a stretch where they play five of six away from Titan Field.