DETROIT (3/2/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse returns to the road this weekend, visiting Robert Morris and Duquesne for a pair of contests in Pennsylvania. The Titans (1-2) play the Colonials at 1 p.m. Saturday before matching up with the Dukes on Monday at noon.

A free live stream is available for the game against Robert Morris on Saturday. Live statistics for both games will also be provided.

The Titans are 1-2 on the young season and dropped an 18-7 game at home against San Diego State in their most recent game on Sunday. Senior Kelsi Pritchard and sophomore Kaitlyn Wandelt each tallied hat tricks in the contest, while sophomore goalkeeper Allison McDonough tied a career-high with 15 saves in net.
 

Games 4 & 5  |  Detroit Mercy (1-2) vs. Robert Morris (2-3) & Duquesne (0-1)
Date / Time	Sat., March 4, 2017 (1 PM)  |  Mon., March 6, 2017 (Noon)
Locations	Moon Twp., Penn. (Walton Stadium)  |  Pittsburgh, Penn. (Rooney Field)
Live Stats	Robert Morris  |  Duquesne
Live Stream / TV	Robert Morris
Social Media	Twitter (In-game tweets): @DetroitTitans  |  @DetroitWL  |  Facebook     Instagram  |  Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	Robert Morris leads, 3-1  |  Duquesne leads, 5-0

Titan News & Notes
• Detroit Mercy has split its two games at home so far in the 2017 season. The Titans have eight games at home this year.
• The Titans' 20-9 win over Butler in their home opener was the first victory for new head coach Laurie Merian.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Allison McDonough has tied her career-high in saves (15) twice this season, in the season opener at Notre Dame and in Detroit Mercy's last game, making 15 stops against San Diego State. She has started all 23 games in her career
• Lexie Kinmond has three points in each game this season and leads the team with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). She is second in the Atlantic Sun in assists with her seven helpers and already has 30 assists in two seasons with the Titans.
• Junior defender Lauren Webley tied a career-high with five ground balls and totaled a career-best four caused turnovers in the win over Butler.
• Sophomore Morgan Girardi led the Titans in each of the first two games and leads the team with eight goals. She had three goals against Notre Dame and five more vs. Butler. Girardi is tied-for-first in the ASUN with four free-position goals.
• Senior Kelsi Pritchard has seven goals on eight shots this season. Her 87.5 shot percentage leads the team.
• Nine different Detroit Mercy players have scored through three games.
• Webley leads the squad with 10 ground balls and seven caused turnovers in three games.
• McDonough ranks third in the nation in saves per game (12.6) after three contests. She is second in the ASUN with 38 total saves.
• Juniors Brianna Plester leads the team with seven draw controls.
• The Titans are out-scoring their opponents, 27-24, in the first half. Detroit Mercy scored seven first-half goals against No. 8-ranked Notre Dame, earning five first-half leads against the Fighting Irish in the 2017 opener.
• Freshman Maeve Grady recorded her first collegiate goal in the second half of the win over Butler.
• Detroit Mercy has at least 10 draw controls in all three games this season.
• The Titan captains this season are senior Kelsi Pritchard and junior defenders Emma Mucci and Lauren Webley.

All-Time Series
Detroit Mercy won the most recent meeting with Robert Morris, defeating the Colonials at Titan Field, 5-4, during the 2016 season. The Titans trailed 3-2 at halftime in that game before scoring three of the four goals in the second half -- two of them by Lexie Kinmond, including the game-winner with 11:47 left. The Titans trail Robert Morris in the all-time series, 1-3, but three of the four contests have been decided by two goals or less.

The Titans are 0-5 against Duquesne all-time, but haven't played the Dukes since the 2014 season. It's the third meeting on the road at Duquesne in the nine-year history of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse.

Scouting Robert Morris
The Colonials have played five games already in 2017 and have a 2-3 record. Robert Morris is 2-0 at home with victories over Central Michigan and St. Mary's. Most recently, RMU fell to Yale on the road by a 15-4 margin. The Colonials have out-shot opponents, 144-118, through five games and also have an 89-61 caused turnover edge.

Annie Sachs leads the team with 22 points on 14 goals and eight assists, while also adding a team-best 17 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. Mackenzie Grady is second on the team in points at 13 (eight goals, five assists). Maggie Stella has added nine goals on the year for RMU. In goal, Katelyn Miller has started all five games and has made 39 saves to go along with a 44.8 save percentage. Dana Davis has a team-best 15 draw controls and Megan Wolfgang adds 15 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers entering Saturday's game.

Scouting Duquesne
The Dukes are 0-1 early in the season and have a game Friday against Ohio State at home. Duquesne dropped a 19-9 game against No. 6-ranked Penn State also at home in its season opener on Feb. 22. The Dukes had 19 shots in the opener, while the Nittany Lions finished with 35 shots in the contest.

Jill Vacanti had a five-point effort in the opener, finishing the game with four goals and one assist. Rilee Bradshaw added two goals for Duquesne, while in net Emily McMinimee started and made eight saves, while giving up 15 of the 19 goals. Duquesne had 16 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers against PSU.

New Year, New Us
The Titans opened their ninth season of women's lacrosse last fall with a new head coach and assistant coach, but neither are new to the Titan sidelines. First-year head coach Laurie Merian is in her third year on the coaching staff having spent the past two seasons as the assistant coach for Detroit Mercy. Her assistant, Megan Callahan '13, was a four-year letter-winner for the Titans, having played from 2010-13.

Merian helped coach the Titans to new heights in her two seasons on the staff -- with Detroit Mercy notching its first two winning seasons in program history, setting school records with 10 wins in 2015 and 12 triumphs last year. The Titans made the ASUN Championship game in both seasons and upset No. 1 Jacksonville in last year's tournament semifinals, handing the Dolphins their first women's lacrosse loss in conference history. It's Merian's second gig as a head coach after she started the program at Division III Alma College and led the Scots to 34 wins over three seasons, including an MIAA Championship game appearance.

A longtime Titan, Callahan started all 73 games at midfield during her Detroit Mercy career from 2010-13. She finished her career sixth all-time in draw controls in school history. Prior to her appointment as a Titan assistant coach, Callahan spent three seasons as the varsity girls lacrosse coach at nearby West Bloomfield High School, while also serving as the school's Student-Athlete Welfare Assistant within the athletic department.

Wandelt Named Preseason Player of the Year
Sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Wandelt was voted the ASUN Women's Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year and classmate Lexie Kinmond also earned Preseason All-League honors with the league office releasing the preseason awards on Jan. 27.

The Titans were picked to finish fifth out of 11 teams in the preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. Detroit Mercy, the only ASUN team to reach all four championship games in the history of ASUN women's lacrosse, earned 82 total points, just two points out of third place. Jacksonville was selected to finish first in the poll with 111 points.

Six Games on ESPN3
Like last season, all of Detroit Mercy's home games from Titan Field will be broadcast on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications. Starting with Detroit Mercy's home game against Cincinnati on March 10, each contest will be streamed live.

On Tap
Detroit Mercy returns to the state of Michigan for its next six games, with five of them being played at Titan Field. The Titans host Cincinnati on March 10 before visiting the University of Michigan on March 15 at the Big House in Ann Arbor.