DETROIT (9/1/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team continues its road swing to open the season, traveling to North Carolina this weekend for a pair of matches at the Elon/High Point Classic. The Titans play High Point University at 7 p.m. Friday evening before closing out the weekend with a 7 p.m. match Sunday at Elon University. Both games are set to be streamed live.

The Titans opened the 2016 season last weekend, earning a shutout in the season opener in a 0-0 draw at Pittsburgh before falling at Marshall on Sunday. Detroit Mercy (0-1-1) allowed just two shots on goal in the opener against the Panthers. Senior forward Matt Harkema tallied the lone Detroit Mercy goal on Sunday afternoon, his eighth career marker.
 

Games 3 & 4  |  Detroit Mercy (0-1-1) vs. High Point (1-0) & Elon (1-1)
Dates	Friday, Sept. 2 - 7:00 p.m. ET  |  Sunday, Sept. 4 - 7:00 p.m. ET
Locations	High Point, North Carolina & Elon, North Carolina
Live Stats	Friday: SideArm Stats  |  Sunday: Stat Broadcast
Live Stream	Friday: Big South Network  |  Sunday: Stretch Internet
Social Media	Twitter (In-game tweets): @DetroitTitans  |  @UDMSoccer  |  Facebook     Instagram  |  Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	First Meeting with either team

Titan News & Notes
• Matt Harkema's goal in the team's second game was his eighth career marker. His career high in a season is four, set in 2014.
• Three freshmen made starts during the team's opening weekend in defenders Justin Scheuneman, Justin Murray and Garret Weaver.
• Senior Tyler Moorman leads the team in shots with four following the opening weekend. He put three of them on goal.
• Junior goalkeeper Robbie Beckwell has three shutouts through the first six starts in his collegiate career. He turned away two shots in the season opener for a clean sheet.
• Moorman, who led the Titans with seven goals in 2015, is the career leader for the Titans with nine career markers.
• Junior Spiro Pliakos ranks 14th all-time in Detroit Mercy history with 15 assists.
• Moorman (7g) and Pliakos (3g, 8a) led the Titans in scoring in 2015 with 14 points each.
• Murray and senior Tommy Bowman leads the team in field minutes through two games at 184.
• Detroit Mercy opened the season with a draw. The Titans were one tie shy of the NCAA record last season with eight draws, earning a mark of 7-5-8.
• The Titans have never faced Elon and High Point during the regular season.
• Nicholas Deren '99 enters his seventh full year as the leader of the men's soccer program. A former player for the University, Deren has spent the last 13 seasons with the Detroit Mercy men's soccer program as an assistant coach or head coach.

Scouting High Point
High Point is 1-0 on the 2016 season after earning a 5-1 win over East Tennessee State in its opener. The Panthers also dropped a contest to Appalachian State and tied Clemson in their two exhibition matches. High Point opens the season with its first three regular season games at home.

Four different goal scorers tallied markers in High Point's season opening win. Siggi Benonysson led the way for the Panthers with two goals and one assist against ETSU. High Point had the shot advantage, 16-12, while also leading in corner kicks, 8-3. High Point scored three goals in the first 25 minutes of the game and led 3-1 at halftime, adding two more goals in the second half.

Scouting Elon
The Phoenix have opened the season 1-1 following a 4-1 win over UNC Asheville and a 2-1 loss to San Diego. Elon went unbeaten in exhibition play this season, earning a 4-0 victory over Charlotte, while also tying Georgetown at home. The Phoenix have out-shot its opponents 36-18 through the first two games of the 2016 year. Elon opens the weekend with a match against St. Bonaventure on Friday night.

Elijah Aqu leads the team with two goals, while Nicholas O'Callaghan, Austin Hill and Nick Adamczyk have each added goals for the Phoenix. Marcel Fahrenholz leads the squad with two assists. Goalkeeper Matthew Jegier has started both games in goal, turning away four shots in net for Elon.

Senior Class
Five seniors represent the Titans this year -- Marcus Barnett, Tommy Bowman, John D'Agostino, Matt Harkema and Tyler Moorman. The group has helped the squad to 16 victories total in the last two years, including the two lowest goals against averages in school history. Moorman was named Second Team All-Horizon League last season, leading the squad with seven goals, while Harkema has seven goals in his career.

Season Overview
The Titans bring back several key pieces from last year's squad that finished 7-5-8 and 3-1-5 in the Horizon League. The top two scorers for Detroit Mercy return with Tyler Moorman (team-high seven goals, 14 points) and junior Spiro Pliakos (eight assists, 14 points) in the fold again in 2016. Also coming back are forward Matt Harkema, midfielders Tommy Bowman, Adam Clauss and Spencer Steinwascher as well as defenders John D'Agostino and Tyler Hughes. All made at least eight starts for the Titans in 2015. Matt DeVries, who missed most of the season due to injury, and Jonathan Bohlman are other key members returning for the Titans.

Juniors Ryan Ruloff, Guillermo Potti and Kevin Tapchom and second-year players Martin Lang Jr. and James Solomon provide depth up front, while defenders Grant Harrison and Marcus Barnett are coming back for Detroit Mercy on the back line.

Junior goalkeeper Robbie Beckwell made two starts in goal for the Titans last season, winning both starts and posting a 0.50 goals against average with 10 saves and a shutout. Backing him up at the goalkeeper spot is sophomore Josh Flamme.

A big and talented group of freshmen -- 10 in all -- provide depth on the squad for the Titans and several of them should make an impact for Detroit Mercy in 2016.

Horizon League Preseason Poll
The Titans were selected to finish seventh in the Horizon League Preseason Poll, which was released earlier in August. Detroit Mercy received 38 total votes and finished just behind Milwaukee, who totaled 40 points, in the poll. Oakland and Wright State earned the most votes in the poll with 73 each, while four teams received first-place votes, including three each for Oakland, Wright State and fourth-place Valparaiso.

On Tap
The Titans open the Horizon League slate next weekend, visiting Valparaiso on Saturday, Sept. 10 for a 3 p.m. ET kick off. It's the final game in a five-game road trip to open the season for Detroit Mercy, which opens the season at home on Sept. 17 against Cleveland State.