DETROIT (10/31/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team closes out the 2018 campaign on Friday, hosting Horizon League foe Cleveland State for Senior Day from Titan Field. The match is free of admission with first kick set for 3 p.m. and may be seen live via ESPN-Plus with a small subscription fee.

The Titans will honor both of their seniors prior to the match in defender Grant Harrison and forward Kevin Tapchom.
 

Game 18 // Detroit Mercy (1-14-2, 0-6-1 HL) vs. Cleveland State (4-8-2, 1-4-2 HL)
Dates / Time	Friday, Nov. 2 // 3:00 PM ET
Location / Tickets	Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field) // Admission: FREE
Live Stats	Sidearm Live Stats
Live Stream/Video	ESPN-Plus
Social Media	Twitter (In-game Tweets): @UDMSoccer | Facebook Instagram | Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	Titans lead, 17-11-2 // Last Meeting: Titans 2, CSU 1 (11/3/2017)

Titan News & Notes
• Detroit Mercy won the last meeting between the two squads, 2-1 in the regular-season finale in 2017.
• The Vikings won the previous meeting in Detroit, topping the Titans 3-1 during the 2016 campaign.
• Detroit Mercy's 13 shots against Milwaukee tied for their high in a Horizon League match this season.
• Nine of the 12 goals scored in 2018 have been the first career goals for those Titans -- Daniel Iyok (Cal), Mohamad Miri (Robert Morris), Ben Al-Gharabally (Western Michigan), Dominic Gatson (Wright State), Demetri Pliakos (Wright State), Jason Blackwell (Purdue Fort Wayne), James Solomon (Green Bay), Dylan Fillwock (Northern Kentucky) and Jake Reitzloff (NKU) all notched their first collegiate goals in 2018.
• Sixteen (16) different players have recorded at least one point this season for the Titans. Ten (10) different players have found the back of the net.
• Junior defender Garret Weaver has started in all 17 games and leads the Titans in minutes played (1,549) this season.
• Sophomore Demetri Pliakos leads the squad in shots (28) and shots on goal (11) during the 2018 season.
• Freshman Ben Al-Gharabally and junior Jake Reitzloff each lead the squad with two goals and four points during the 2018 campaign.
• Goalkeeper Devin Mendez (2.35 GAA, 53 saves) made a career-high 10 saves at Penn State on Oct. 17 for the Titans, while freshman goalkeeper Evan Mazurek (1.86 GAA, 66.7 SV%) recorded a shutout in his first collegiate game and start in a 1-0 win at Robert Morris.
• Mendez ranks fifth in the Horizon League in saves per game (3.79) and total saves (53).
• The Titans have plentiful experience on the back line with defenders Weaver (48), Harrison (47 starts), Justin Schueneman (40) and Justin Murray (31) having started a collective 166 matches across their Detroit Mercy careers.
• Seventeen (17) of the 30 Titan players are first or second-year student-athletes, which also includes 13 freshmen. There are just two seniors on the 2018 roster -- defender Grant Harrison and forward Kevin Tapchom, who notched his first career assist on the game-winning goal at Robert Morris.
• Harrison was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior Class Award, a national honor presented annually to the student-athlete that best represents Community, Character, Classroom and Competition in various sports.
• Head coach Nicholas Deren '99 is in his ninth full season and has 57 victories in his Titan head coaching career.

Senior Class
Grant Harrison, a Second Team All-Horizon League defender, enters Friday's match against Cleveland State playing in 57 career games with 47 starts. He has two career assists -- one of them coming in 2018. Harrison was one of 30 candidates from across the nation to receive consideration for the Senior Class Award, which is presented each year to a student-athlete who best represents Community, Character, Classroom and Competition on and off the soccer field.

Kevin Tapchom has played in 15 career matches for the Titans and tallied his first career assists earlier this season in a 1-0 win over Robert Morris on the road. Tapchom is wrapping up his fifth season overall with the red, white and blue and has recorded four shots and three shots on goal in 2018. He has played in seven contests this season with one start.

First Career Goals
A slew of Titans have notched their first career goals in 2018 -- nine in all. Sophomore midfielder Daniel Iyok started it off in the season opener, scoring off a PK in the first half at California. Sophomore forward Mohamad Miri's first collegiate goal was also a game-winning goal in a 1-0 road win at Robert Morris. Redshirt freshman midfielder Ben Al-Gharabally, who has multiple goals in 2018, scored a goal on the road at Western Michigan.

Freshman Dominic Gatson and sophomore Demetri Pliakos each scored their first collegiate goals in Detroit Mercy's HL match against Wright State. Gatson scored off a rebound in the second half before Pliakos added a PK, also in the second half. Freshman forward Jason Blackwell scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute to help the Titans earn a 2-2 draw with Purdue Fort Wayne.

Junior James Solomon was the seventh to score his first collegiate goal, scoring the first in a 2-2 draw with Green Bay. At Northern Kentucky, junior Dylan Fillwock fired in his first goal at the Division I level, while junior forward Jake Reitzloff scored just minutes later for his first collegiate goal for the Titans.

All-Time Series
• The Titans lead the all-time series with the Vikings, 17-11-2, in 30 career meetings.
• Detroit Mercy is 10-2 against Cleveland State at home, including winning the first eight head-to-head matches in Detroit.
• Cleveland State won the last contest in Detroit, 3-1, on Sept. 17, 2016.
• The red, white and blue was victorious in last season's meeting, winning 2-1 in Cleveland on Nov. 3, 2017.
• The come-from-behind triumph last season helped lift Detroit Mercy into the Horizon League Championship.

Scouting Cleveland State
• The Vikings were officially eliminated from postseason play last weekend and are 1-4-2 (5 points) in HL play.
• Overall this season, Cleveland State is 4-8-2 with wins over Bowling Green, UIC, Ohio State and Pittsburgh.
• CSU has dropped its past three contests, giving up 10 goals in that span.
• In its last match, Cleveland State fell 4-2 to Oakland at home after falling 2-1 at NKU the previous weekend.
• All four of the Vikings' wins came in a five-match stretch during the middle of the season, including impressive 2-0 and 4-3 wins at Ohio State and Pitt, respectively.
• The Vikings have 18 goals on the season, six of them from junior Gabe Pewu, who leads the team with 13 points.
• Pewu and junior Vlad Jandric each have three goals in Horizon League play.
• Senior Noah Pio paces the Vikings with six assists and 43 shots, while ranking second on the squad with eight points.
• Four goalkeepers have seen time in net this year for CSU with freshman Alex Gyerman sporting team-best marks in saves (30), save percentage (73.2) and goals against average (1.29). He also has three of the four wins and one shutout.