DETROIT (3/17/2016) -- The conference season is finally here as the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team begins MAAC play on the road when it travels to Manhattan on Saturday, March 19.

Game time is set for 2:30 p.m., at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, New York. There will be a live broadcast of the event – available with a paid subscription – as well as live stats.

The game will be the sixth straight on the road for the Titans who have yet to play a home game. 

Detroit and Manhattan are off to slow starts in the non-conference season, but the Titans have dropped three games to nationally-ranked teams as well as three games by two goals or less. Meanwhile, Manhattan is 1-7 on the year and is coming off an 18-2 loss against No. 10/11 North Carolina at home on Monday.

The Titans are led offensively by sophomore Mark Anstead, who tops the team with 15 points and eight assists and is second with seven goals. Senior Andy Hebden tops the team with eight goals and is second with 10 points, while sophomores Sean Birney and Alec Gilhooly are tied for third with nine points apiece. 

Senior Paul Bitetti leads the team with seven caused turnovers, and junior Jason Weber is posting 12.5 saves per game, eight in the nation.

Following the contest, the red, white and blue will play three in a row at home starting with Air Force next Saturday, March 26.

AGAINST THE MAAC
Detroit is 19-19 in regular season league play since joining the MAAC in 2010. UDM opened its' MAAC history with a 2-6 mark in 2010 and was 4-2 in 2011 and 3-3 the last three seasons, tying for second place in 2011, 2012, and 2014. 

Last year, Detroit tied its program record with four wins again to share second place. 

THE SERIES
This will be the eighth career meeting between Detroit and Manhattan. Similar to UDM, Manhattan College is a private, independent, Roman Catholic, liberal arts college located in New York City.

The Titans and Jaspers have met in every year since the Detroit program was established in 2009 and UDM trails the all-time series, 4-3.

The red, white and blue is 3-0 at home, but 0-4 on the road in the match-up, including all three games on Manhattan's home turf. 

ABOUT MANHATTAN
Manhattan is 1-7 on the season and is coming off an 18-2 home loss to nationally-ranked North Carolina. The Jaspers lone win was an 8-5 victory on the road at UMass-Lowell.

Parker Giarratana leads the team and is one of the top scorers in the MAAC with 13 goals and 23 points. He also leads the team in assists with 10.

Matt Garvey has seven goals and 12 points, while Christian Baldi is third on the team with six markers.

Frank Merrill tops the team with 10 caused turnovers and 24 ground balls, and Jack Fowler is the top face-off specialist winning 33-of-95 (.347) with 13 GB's.

Michael Zingaro has started all eight games in goals and has a .519 save percentage and a 13.77 goals against average. 

MAAC OPENER
Detroit is 3-3 all-time in MAAC openers, including 2-3 when starting the conference campaign on the road. 

FAMILIAR FOES
Manhattan is one of two teams (Bellarmine) that Detroit has faced every year of its existence.

The first meeting took place on a neutral field at Robert Morris in 2009, a 14-9 loss. 

BIG APPLE MEMORIES
Detroit is 1-3 all-time in New York City with three losses to Manhattan. The lone win was at Wagner, 9-8, in 2014. 

NO EASY ONE'S
The Titans have never been afraid to play anyone and this year is no different with one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in school history.

On the docket this season is Air Force, Notre Dame, Marquette, Michigan and Ohio State as the slate features seven opponents that posted a combined 56-46 record (.543) a season ago with a pair of NCAA Tournament teams, including Final Four member Notre Dame.

So far, the non-conference opponents have a record of 18-13 (.580). 

MORE ON THE SCHEDULE
The Titans have faced three ranked teams on the year, the most  Detroit has ever matched up with in a single season. UDM is still looking for its first-ever victory over a nationally-ranked team as the Titans are 0-11 in their short history against top 20 programs.

ANSTEAD EARNS MAAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After a weekend that included tying his career high in offensive output, Detroit sophomore Mark Anstead was named the MAAC's Offensive Player of the Week on March 7. 

It is the first time this season he has been honored with a weekly conference award and the second time in his career he has garnered the offensive player accolade.

Anstead totaled nine points on the weekend with five goals and four assists in Detroit's two games at the Midwest Classic. He tied his career high in all areas with six points, three goals and three assists against No. 19/17 Marquette and that was after tallying two goals and an assist in the tournament opener against Bellarmine.

HATS OFF 
Sophomore Mark Anstead posted his fourth career hat trick tying his career high with three goals against No. 19/17 Marquette on March 6.

His four hat tricks currently lead all active Titan players. 

THE GREAT WALL OF WEBER
Junior Jason Weber topped the country for the second-straight year with 14.43 saves per game last season, while finishing third in the nation - and second in the MAAC - with a .589 save percentage.

He has now recorded double-digit saves in 27 of his 30 career games, including 16 with 15+, 11 with 17 or more and two with 20 or more. 

In 30 career games – all starts – he has posted 444 saves, a .599 save percentage and a 9.98 goals against average, the latter two school records.

In the season opener, Weber made 18 saves at No. 11/12 Ohio State and he also had 12 at No. 1/2 Notre Dame. He picked up a career-high seven ground balls versus No. 19/17 Marquette. 

On the year, he ranks among the top 50 on the nation and the top half of the MAAC in a number of statistics including third in the MAAC and eighth in the nation in saves per game (12.6), first in the MAAC and 23rd in the country in ground balls per game (5.0) and fourth in the league and 24th in Division I in save percentage (.529).
    
RETURN OF THE SHARK
Sophomore Mark Anstead is back to quarterback the offense.

He was the MAAC's Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-League last season and was listed among the top 25 rookies in all three of Inside Lacrosse's Freshmen Rankings.

Anstead ended the year second on the team with 38 points, tied for second with 17 assists and third notching 21 goals.  The 17 assists is tied for the fourth most in school history, while the 38 points is 10th and his 2.71 points per game is seventh.

Through the Titans first five games, he leads the team in points (15) and assists (8) and is second with seven goals. He is tied for third in the MAAC and 71st in the nation with 3.0 points per game and is third in the league and 43rd in the country with 1.6 assists per contest.

ANOTHER HEBDEN MAKING HIS MARK
Senior Andy Hebden tallied his first collegiate hat trick in the season opener at No. 11/12 Ohio State.

Hebden currently leads the team with eight goals and is second on the squad with 10 points. In fact, his eight goals already tied his career high with the eight he had as a freshman, and he is just four points away from shattering his career high of 13 points he registered back in 2013. 

A team captain, Hebden is the younger brother of former team captain and three-time All-MAAC defenseman Jamie Hebden '13. 

THREE IN FOR GILHOOLY
Sophomore Alec Gilhooly posted his first career hat trick along with a career-best four points at Mercer on Feb. 20.

Gilhooly had all three of his goals and four points in the 5-0 Titan run that knotted the game at 8-8 with 8:32 left in the contest.

He is third on the team with six goals and is tied for third at nine points. With 15 of his 21 shots on goal, he also leads the team with a 71.4 shots on goal percentage. 

POWER PLAY
The Titans' man-up unit was tremendous again last season as Detroit was second in man-up offense connecting on 23-of-51 opportunities (.451) in the MAAC. 

That was after setting a NCAA record with a .708 mark in 2014, converting on 34-of-48 opportunities. 

In the last 32 games, UDM is 63-of-115 (.547) with the extra-man attack. 

SWEET PICKENS
Freshman Bo Pickens had a great collegiate debut collecting a game-high three caused turnovers at No. 11/12 Ohio State in the season opener.

SLOW BURN
Sophomore Sean Birney is fitting into the offense nicely as he is second on the team with five assists.

FIRST STRIKE
Sophomore Lucas Ducharme posted his first collegiate goal at Mercer on Feb. 19.

SFORZA AT THE FACE-OFF 
Freshman Mike Sforza stepped up in a big way for the Titans at Mercer on Feb. 20. 

In just his second collegiate game, Sforza was 7-of-13 in faceoffs with two ground balls, and he won another six at top-ranked Notre Dame on Feb. 27. 

TAKE IT AWAY
Senior Paul Bitetti leads the team with seven caused turnovers and is sixth in the MAAC and 38th in the country with 1.4 caused turnovers per game.

Bitetti is now fourth in school history with 49 caused turnovers, just 11 behind Jason McDonald '12 for third place. 

BITETTI NAMED A CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Paul Bitetti has captained the Detroit defense on and off the field for the past couple of years and he was announced as a candidate for this season's Senior CLASS Award®.

Twenty lacrosse student-athletes were selected as candidates for the Senior CLASS Award®, including two from the MAAC as he was joined by Joseph Radin of Marist. 

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. 

Bitetti has played in 40 career games with 36 starts—all at defense—and has served as UDM's number one long-stick defender the past two seasons. He is a two-time First-Team All-MAAC selection at defense and was named preseason All-MAAC by the conference and Inside Lacrosse as a senior. 

Off the field, he is a four-time member of the Detroit Athletic Director's Honor Roll, a three-time member of the MAAC Academic Honor Roll and a three-time MAAC All-Academic Team honoree. Bitetti has also been a member of the Dean's List.

A LITTLE WET BEHIND THE EAR
The Titans are one of the youngest teams in the country as they have 32 underclassmen on its 47-man roster, including 17 true freshmen.

Detroit also has just six seniors on its roster. 

NEW TO THE O
The Titan offense will need to replace some major parts with the departures of Shayne Adams, Brandon Beauregard, Mike Birney and Scott Drummond due to graduation. 

In total, Detroit will have to replace 91 goals and 134 points from last year's team.

HONOR THY CAPTAIN
Senior defenseman Paul Bitetti, senior goalie Connor Flynn and senior midfielder Andy Hebden will all wear the "C" for this season. 

All three have been valuable leaders on the field as well as in the classroom, where they have earned numerous academic accolades on the UDM Athletic Director's Honor Roll, the MAAC Academic Honor Roll, and the All-MAAC Academic Team.

"These three individuals represent what our program is all about, both on and off the field," said head coach Chris Kolon. "They are three of the hardest workers on the team, great student-athletes, and they will do whatever it takes for the success of the program."