DETROIT (9/12/2017) -- Following a league-opening win at home over the weekend, the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team prepares for six of seven matches away from Titan Field, beginning with a road contest at Fort Wayne on Wednesday. Game time is set for 6 p.m. ET.
The Titans (3-0-1, 1-0 Horizon League) will play their second game of the week on Saturday, traveling to Wisconsin for a Horizon League match at Green Bay. The game against the Phoenix is set for 8 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. CT.
Detroit Mercy has already knocked off two NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, both via shutout, defeating LIU-Brooklyn 1-0 during the opening week of the season and downing the defending Horizon League champions, UIC, just this past Saturday by a 2-0 margin.
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| Â Games 5 & 6 Â | Â Detroit Mercy vs. Fort Wayne & Green Bay |
| Â Dates/Location |
 Wednesday, Sept. 13 (6 PM) // Fort Wayne, Ind. (Hefner Soccer Complex) |
| Â Location |
 Saturday, Sept. 16 (8 PM) // Green Bay, Wis. (Aldo Santaga Stadium) |
| Â Live Stats |
 GoMastodons.com // GreenBayPhoenix.com |
| Â Live Stream/Video |
 Fort Wayne: Mastodon All-Access ($) // Green Bay: N/A |
| Â Social Media |
 Twitter (In-game Tweets): @UDMSoccer  |  Facebook Â
  Instagram  |  Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam |
| Â All-Time Series |
 Titans lead, 10-3-3 // Last meeting: Fort Wayne 3, Titans 0 (10/4/16) |
| Â Titans lead, 12-9-6 // Last meeting: Green Bay 2, Titans 0 (10/29/16) |
Titan News & Notes
• Detroit Mercy (3-0-1) is unbeaten after four matches for the first time since 2002, when the team started 7-0-1.
• The Titans are ranked No. 9 in the most recent Great Lakes regional rankings. They've been included in the rankings for three-straight weeks.
• With a 3-0 home mark, Detroit Mercy has its best home start at Titan Field since the 2012 campaign.
• The Titans have a 10-3-3 mark against Fort Wayne all-time and a 12-9-6 record against HL foe Green Bay.
• Senior goalkeeper
Robbie Beckwell went over 100 career saves in his last match with eight stops vs. UIC.
• Senior forward
Spiro Pliakos has tied a single-season career high with four goals, also accomplished in 2014 and 2016.
• Pliakos ranks ninth in the NCAA in shots per game (4.50) and 14th in shots on goal per game (2.25). Senior
Tyler Moorman is in a tie-for-seventh in game-winning goals (2) following the opening three weeks of the season.
• The Titans have two victories over NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago -- LIU-Brooklyn and UIC.
• Detroit Mercy scored three goals against Saint Mary's, which was the first time the Titans tallied three goals in a game since Oct. 24, 2015 at Wright State.
• Head coach
Nicholas Deren '99 picked up win No. 50 in his Titan career in the season opener against Stetson.
• The Titans play six of their next seven contests away from Titan Field, including a pair against Big Ten opponents (Penn State, Ohio State).
Beckwell Earns HL Defensive Player of the Week Accolade
Senior goalkeeper
Robbie Beckwell earned his first career Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week accolade on Monday after he was announced as the winner by the league office following the third week of the season. He earned his second shutout of the year, turning away eight shots in a 2-0 victory over the defending Horizon League champs, UIC. It was the second HL weekly award for the Titans in 2017 with
Spiro Pliakos earning the HL Offensive Player of the Week honor after the first weekend of the season.
Seniors Leading the Way
The Titans have seven seniors on the 2017 squad with many of them having a huge impact on the program through four games. Five fifth-year seniors are on the squad in
Robbie Beckwell,
Adam Clauss,
Matt DeVries,
Tyler Moorman and
Spencer Steinwascher.
Tyler Hughes and
Spiro Pliakos are the other two seniors for the Titans.
Pliakos (four goals), Moorman (three goals) and Clauss (one goal) have accounted for all eight goals in 2017. Pliakos has already tied a career-high with four goals and leads the team in shots (18) and shots on goal (9). Moorman is second on the team with seven points (three goals, one assist). He also has two game-winning goals. DeVries (four starts) and Clauss (three starts) are mainstays at midfield for Detroit Mercy, while Hughes has started all four games in 2017 on defense.
Beckwell has played every minute in net and has two shutouts on the season. Beckwell leads the Horizon League in saves with 21, while ranking second in the league with 5.25 saves per game. He has a 3-0-1 record in net and has 17 total saves in his past two matches, turning away eight shots against UIC to earn Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week.
Titans Earn Spot in Regional Rankings for Third-Straight Week
The Titans have earned a spot in the United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes regional rankings for the third consecutive week of the 2017 campaign, securing the No. 9 spot after the poll was released Tuesday. Detroit Mercy was No. 7 in the Great Lakes regional poll in the first week of the season and No. 9 last week.
Detroit Mercy (3-0-1) is unbeaten after four games for the first time since the 2002 season, when Detroit Mercy started 7-0-1. It's also the first time since the 2014 year that Detroit Mercy has been included in the regional rankings in three-straight weeks.
Quick Starts
Detroit Mercy has been quick to score in 2017, tallying three goals in the first 10 minutes of the match so far through four matches. Two of those goals have come off the foot of
Tyler Moorman, who scored just 106 seconds into the league-opening victory over the Flames on Sept. 9.
Titans' quick goals:
• Moorman -- 1:46 vs. UIC (PK)
• Moorman -- 4:01 vs. LIU-Brooklyn (lone goal of game)
• Clauss -- 9:49 at Saint Mary's
Chasing Records
Spiro Pliakos, a three-time All-League player, is moving up the Titan record books in points, moving into a tie-for-17th place with former Detroit Mercy standout Dominic Vella in points with 46. He is one point shy of Danny Jovanovski (47 points) for 16th place and four points back of 14th place. Pliakos has 15 goals and 16 assists in his standout Titan career. Pliakos is 19th all-time in goals and tied-for-13th in assists.
Tyler Moorman is also moving up the career goals list and has 13 career markers, which puts him in a tie-for-20th with Sam Seppo and Stephen Glover. He is one goal behind Goran Cepo (14 goals) for 19th place on the career goals list.
Robbie Beckwell became the 11th goalkeeper in Titan history to record 100 career saves. He made his 100th stop in the second half of a 2-0 victory over UIC. He is 22 saves behind former Detroit Mercy GK Jim Grewe for the 10th spot on the career saves list.
Scouting Fort Wayne
The Mastodons are 1-2-3 on the season with their victory over Dayton at home during the opening weekend of the season. Fort Wayne has already played three Horizon League teams this season, tying Wright State 0-0 on the road, dropping a 2-1 contest to Northern Kentucky on the road and drawing Green Bay most recently, 1-1, at home on Sept. 3.
Fort Wayne has five different goal scorers on the season, with Carmelo Morales leading the team with three points (1g, 1a). Oscar Uyamadu (one goal) leads the squad with 20 shots. Brendan Stangel (0.55 GAA, 86.7 SV%, 0-0-3) and Will Hathaway (2.00 GAA, 64.7 SV%, 1-2) have split the six starts in net for the Mastodons in 2017.
Scouting Green Bay
The Phoenix hold a 2-0-2 record after four matches entering their Wednesday night contest at home vs. Drake. Green Bay has one-goal wins over Western Illinois and Milwaukee, while drawing with Eastern Illinois and Fort Wayne.Â
Audi Jepsen leads the team in goals with four -- scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee en route to earning the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week accolade on Monday. Tomer Zloczower ranks second on the team with one goal and four assists for six points, while leading the squad in shots (13) and shots on goal (6). Marcos Bautista is third on the Phoenix with five points (one goal, three assists).
Horizon League Preseason Poll
Detroit Mercy was selected to finish sixth in the preseason poll, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. The Titans received one of the 10 first-place votes and earned 51 points overall. Oakland was voted to finish first, with the defending league champions, UIC, just one point behind in second.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy plays six of the next seven matches on the road and next week makes a trip to Penn State on Wednesday, Sept. 20 for a 7 p.m. start time. The next home game for the Titans is Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. in the opener of a doubleheader with the Titan women's soccer squad from Titan Field.
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