FORT WAYNE, Ind. (8/20/2017) -- Freshman Rachel Russo scored three second-half goals as the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team blanked Fort Wayne, 3-0, on the road on Sunday.

The hat trick was the first by a Titan since 2013 and believed to be just the second in school history by a freshman. She also accomplished the task taking just three shots.

Three different Titans (1-0-1) earned assists on the day in seniors Rachel DeLuca and Phylisha Drayton and freshman Olivia Parra, while junior Marina Manzo recorded five saves as Fort Wayne (0-2) attempted 16 total shots on the day.

Detroit Mercy will return to action on Wednesday, Aug. 23, when the red, white and blue hosts Lawrence Tech at 3 p.m. 

Quotes:
Head Coach Mike Lupenec

• "I am very proud of the team and the coaching staff. This was a total team effort as we are dealing with some injuries and I am dealing with a family matter. We had a lot of kids step up today with the big one being Rachel (Russo). All road wins are great, and I can't say enough about the job of my coaching staff in Jamie (Huff), Mike (Sheehy) and Jennifer (Borawski). They deserve a lot of credit for today and everything they do for this program."
• "We should call our backline the iron curtain because they really don't allow anything. They deserve a lot of credit. We withstood some chances by them, especially in the first half, but they played great. If they give up an early goal, who knows, it could be a totally different game."

First Half 

• Neither team had a lot of strong scoring opportunities despite the Titans being outshot, 8-3.
• Both teams had one corner kick and each goalie had one save in the stanza. 

Second Half

• The Titans struck early as Russo took a pass from Drayton and put it in near the left post just 50 seconds into play.
• Russo's second goal came just 1:03 later as DeLuca set her up and she was able to tap it in against on the left post.
• Manzo recorded three of her five saves in the game in a 13-minute span. First, she stopped a header at 49:44. She then denied a shot at 61:35 and again at 61:41 to keep the red, white and blue in front 2-0.
• Russo then connected on the magical third goal with less than a minute left as fellow freshmen Olivia Parra set her up and she beat the keeper from just outside the six-yard box.

Key Stats

• Russo is the first Titan to score three goals in a game since Alyssa Riley '15 had three against Marygrove on Aug. 31, 2011.
• She is also the first Titan freshman to net a hat trick since Tanya Tiselj '03 had three in 1999 against Bowling Green. 
• Manzo is now sixth in school history with 187 saves, just four behind Kristi Elliott '00 for fifth place. 
• It is just the second time the Titans have started the season with a pair of shutouts joining the 1997 squad that defeated Green Bay, 5-0, and Washington State, 4-0. 
• Detroit Mercy is now 10-1-1 and 6-1 on the road all-time against Fort Wayne.
• The Titans have also now posted seven shutouts in the series and have now allowed just one Mastodons' goal in the last 312:36 minutes of play. 
• Head coach Mike Lupenec missed his first game in 25 years as the Titan head coach due to family reasons. 

 

Freshman Rachel Russo with 3 goals on just 3 shots as the Titans win 3-0 at Fort Wayne #DetroistCollegeTeam #HLWSOC #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/lfg9QBzB26

— Detroit Mercy WSOC (@DetroitWSOC) August 20, 2017

 

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