DETROIT (9/15/2016) -- Following a five-game road trip to open the 2016 season, the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team begins the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, hosting Cleveland State in its home opener.
The game is set for 1 p.m. from Titan Field and may be seen on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications. Free Detroit Mercy soccer scarves will be passed out to the first 100 fans in attendance prior to Saturday's contest.
Detroit Mercy earned a draw in its first Horizon League game last Saturday at Valparaiso.
Last Time Out
The Titans earned a draw in their Horizon League opener at Valparaiso, 1-1. Detroit Mercy got on the board first after
Spiro Pliakos was fouled in the box, earning himself a penalty kick. He converted on the kick, scoring his first goal of the season and giving the Titans a 1-0 halftime lead. Valparaiso scored early in the second half and neither team could find a goal the rest of the way as the two sides settled for one point.
It ended a five-game road trip for the Titans and was the third draw of the season. Detroit Mercy is 0-2-3 heading into Saturday's contest. The match was the fourth time in five games this year that Detroit Mercy has allowed one or no goals.
Titan News & Notes
• Senior
Tyler Moorman, who led the Titans with seven goals in 2015, is the active career leader for the Titans with 10 markers. He scored his first penalty kick goal in Detroit Mercy's 1-1 draw at High Point.
• Two of the three goals this season have come off PK's with
Spiro Pliakos converting at Valparaiso.
• 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.
• Junior goalkeeper
Robbie Beckwell has played all 510 minutes in net. He has a 1.06 goals against average and 19 saves in five games.
• Detroit Mercy has allowed just three goals in its past three matches and six markers in five contests in 2016.
• Freshman defender
Justin Murray leads field players with 494 minutes played. He has started all five matches.
• Five Titans have started all five games: Beckwell, Murray,
Adam Clauss,
Grant Harrison and
Tommy Bowman.
• Detroit Mercy has 11 draws in the past two seasons. The Titans were one tie shy of the NCAA record last year, finishing with eight draws in 2015.
• The Titans host rival Oakland in their next game on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. from Titan Field.
•
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.
All-Time Series
The Titans are 16-10-2 against Cleveland State all-time, including 12-1 from Titan Field. Detroit Mercy is 2-2-1 in its last five games against the Vikings and went into overtime last season in both games with Cleveland State, earning a tie and a loss, with both games being played in Cleveland. Detroit Mercy and CSU met in the Horizon League Championships, with the Vikings earning a 1-0 win in their first round matchup.
Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings are 3-3 and 1-0 in the Horizon League, after dismantling Belmont in their league opener 2-1. Cleveland State has scored two goals in its past four games after tallying seven in its first two of the season, which included a 3-0 win over perennial power Dayton. Most recently, the Vikings fell at the hands of Cincinnati on Wednesday, 2-0.
Head coach Ali Kazemaini is in his 11th season and final season for Cleveland State. He announced his intent to retire prior to the season. Four Vikings each have four goals for CSU -- Hesham Hammouda, Lawrence Karpeh, Dan Koniarczyk and Gabe Pewu. Senior Sergio Manesio adds a goal for the Vikings. Sebastian Kalk (four starts) and Aleksandar Drobac (two starts) have split time in net for CSU.
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 eight goals in his career, five of them game-winners.
Last Season
The Titans dropped just one game in Horizon League play last season, finishing 3-1-5 in conference action. Detroit Mercy fell in the first round of the Horizon League Championship at Cleveland State, dropping a 1-0 contest in overtime. The Titans finished the season 7-5-8 overall and earned their first victory over the University of Michigan in program history, winning 2-1 over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in mid-September. Detroit Mercy also set a new school record for draws with eight, finishing just one off the NCAA record for a single season.
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 have two-straight games at home, hosting Metro Series rival Oakland on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. from Titan Field. Detroit Mercy then returns to the road, playing at Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 24 in Kalamazoo.
