DETROIT (10/31/2018) -- After a thrilling road victory that not only extended its winning streak to six straight but kept its title hunt alive, the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team will look to keep it going as the Titans battle Cleveland State in the Horizon League Championship semifinals on Thursday.

Game time is set for 5 p.m. (EST) at Englemann Stadium on the campus of Milwaukee, the site of this year's event as the Panthers won the regular season. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will have live stats.

The fifth-seeded Titans (9-7-3, 4-4-1 HL) have won six in a row and all have been by shutout, the longest such streak in school history, which included a 2-0 upset win over fourth-seeded Wright State on Monday in the quarterfinals. 

The No. 2 Cleveland State (10-6-1, 6-2-1 HL) received a bye in the quarterfinals as the Vikings have already tied their school record for most wins. 

A win would send Detroit Mercy to its sixth Horizon League title game, and the first since 2014, against the winner of top-seeded Milwaukee and the sixth seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies. 

AGAINST CLEVELAND STATE

• Detroit Mercy leads the all-time series, 10-4-2, as the Titans are 4-3-1 in the last eight match-ups with the Vikings. 
• The first-ever meeting was a 13-0 Titan victory in 2004 at home and the Titans are 8-0 all-time in the Motor City against Cleveland State.
• The only time these teams have met in the postseason was in 2010, a 2-1 win as the sixth-seeded Titans upset the third-seeded Vikings in Cleveland in the quarterfinals. 

PLAYOFF TESTED

• This might be the postseason, but the Titans have been in playoff mode for the last couple of weeks after starting the conference campaign at 0-4-1.
• The Titans won their last four HL matches to get in the tournament and all four games were shutouts with 1-0 overtime victories at Green Bay and at Wright State and home wins over Cleveland State and Youngstown State.
• The run continued with a 2-0 victory over the No. 4 seed Wright State on the road. 

HISTORY OF THE 5TH SEED

• Detroit Mercy will look to erase the down legacy of the fifth seed in the Horizon League postseason and they did a good job of that already recording the first win by the No. 5 seed since 2012, when Wright State upended Youngstown State.
• Overall, the No. 5 seed is 12-22-3 all-time in the postseason with one title (Wright State in 1998) and two runner-up appearances (Wright State in 2011 and 2012). 
• For Detroit Mercy, this marks the first time in its history that it is the fifth seed. 

AGAINST THE HORIZON LEAGUE

• Celebrating its 40th season of operation, the Horizon League has been the home of the Titans since the 1980-81 season as the red, white and blue are the eldest members of the league at 39 years.
• The Horizon League started sponsoring women's soccer in 1991 and Detroit Mercy began their program in 1993 making the Titan women's soccer the eldest in the sport.
• The Titans are 94-70-17 all-time in conference play and 20-19-1 all-time in the conference tournament, which includes a 4-9 mark as the true visiting team in the postseason. 
• Detroit Mercy won the regular season title in 1995 and shared the title in 1996. In 2004, the team won the HL Championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, beating Michigan in the first round, 3-2.
• Overall, the Titans have reached the Horizon League championship game five times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014).  

WIN STREAK AT 6

• The Titans have won six in a row and all six have been by shutouts, the longest such mark in school history. 
• The six-match winning streak is the third longest in school history behind the school-record 10 straight in 1996 and the eight in a row piled up in 1993. 

STAY TUNED

• Detroit Mercy has played in eight overtimes this season and is 4-1-3 in those matches.
• The Titan matches this year have averaged 96.1 minutes of playing time, which is the 16th most in the nation and the most in the Horizon League.

MANZO TABBED HL GK OF THE YEAR, FIORIDO FIRST TEAM ALL-HL AND PIECHOCKI ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

• The Titans will be playing for a chance at championship rings, but three players were already honored for their play all year as the Horizon League announced their postseason awards.
• Senior Marina Manzo was tabbed the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-Horizon League, senior Carly Fiorido was named First Team All-HL and Julie Ann Piechocki garnered All-Freshman Team accolades.
• Manzo earns both honors for the second time in her career as she was also First Team All-League and Goalie of the Year as a sophomore in 2016.
• Fiorido has raised her game to a new level this year taking her excellent defensive game and adding an offensive punch in key situations to earn All-League honors for the first time. A standout student-athlete, she was also named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team.
• Piechocki is the latest Titan freshman to make a huge impact on the squad as she makes it four-straight years and 22 out of 26 seasons that Detroit Mercy has had a rookie make the All-Newcomer/All-Freshman Team.

THE TITAN WALL OF DEFENSE

• The Titans have not only won six in a row, but all six have been by with clean sheets from the defense, led by senior goalie Marina Manzo.
• In fact, the Titans have not allowed a goal in over 590 minutes with the last coming against Milwaukee in the 56th minute of that contest, a 1-0 setback which is also the last time the team lost. 
• The six-game shutout streak is a new school record. 
• At Wright State this past Monday in the quarterfinals, the defense limited WSU to just five shots in the game, a season-best for Detroit Mercy.
• The Raiders - who fired 13 shots in the regular season meeting last week - saw the HL Offensive and Player of the Year Aaliyah Patten register just one shot on goal and that came in the fifth minute of action, which was saved by Manzo.

THE MANZO WATCH

• Senior Marina Manzo - the HL Goalie of the Year - continues to assert herself nationally as well as in the Titan record book.
• She currently leads the Horizon League with a career-high 105 saves, nine shutouts, save percentage (.840), and 5.53 saves per game, which rank 11th, 13th, 42nd and 43rd, respectively. 
• She has registered six-straight shutouts and has not allowed a goal in her last 590 minutes in net. 
• Her 105 saves surpassed the 86 she had last season for her career high and she is now third in school history in the single-season tally.            
• Manzo posted a season-high 11 saves in back-to-back games against Madonna and at IUPUI and also has a pair of 10-save performances at No. 24 South Florida and at Stetson.    
• Part of the 10 saves at Stetson including stopping a penalty kick in the first half to keep the Hatters off the scoreboard in a 0-0 draw.
• She is currently second in school history with 370 saves trailing only Alisson Dube's 429.
• Manzo is also first in school history in shutouts (26), second in goals-against average (1.18) and save percentage (.797), third in wins (33) and sixth in saves per game (4.68). 
• She was the 2016 HL Goalkeeper of the Year and started all 18 games last season registering 86 saves  – second in the Horizon League – with five shutouts.  She also ranked third in the HL in saves per game (4.78), fourth in shutouts and was fifth in save percentage (.782).
• Her career high in saves is 13 at Green Bay in 2014 and she also picked up her first career point with an assist on Carly Fiorido's game-winning goal against Madonna earlier this season. 

FIORIDO'S MY HERO

• Senior Carly Fiorido - who was voted First Team All-Horizon League and All-Academic - seems to have a knack for finding the back of the net in key times as four of her career-high five goals have been either tying or winning the game this year, with three occurring with less than a minute to play in a period.
• She scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Cleveland State. 
• Against Madonna, she tied the score at 2-2 on a penalty kick with 48 seconds left and then won the game with 50 ticks remaining in overtime.
• She helped shut down Central Michigan's all-time leading scorer Lexi Pelafas before kicking in the game-winner with less than 20 seconds left in a 1-0 win over CMU.
• That goal led her to be named the HL Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 and the goal was No. 4 on NCAA Top Plays of the Week. 
• She currently is tied for the team lead with five goals - tied for sixth in the HL - and is second on the team with 11 points.

MY PIECHOCKI

• Freshman Julie Ann Piechocki has been one of the main offensive threats all season long as she was selected to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
• Piechocki has started all 19 games and leads the team with 16 points and six assists, while sharing the team lead with five goals. The fi
• She is also third among all freshmen in the league in points, goals and assists. 
• In the quarterfinals, she led the Titan offense with a goal and an assist, setting up the first marker by feeding Kelli Doyle in the box off a free kick and just two minutes later, she put the finishing touches on the win by burying a shot to the back of the net in the 71st minute. 
• She tallied not only the first Titan goal of 2018, but her first career marker as she drilled one past the Eastern Michigan goalie in the second half of the contest.
• At Toledo, she fed senior Molly Kane for the first Titan score and then had the game-winner in overtime with less than two minutes to go. 
• She notched a goal on the road at NKU and has an assist in three of the last four games setting up scores against Cleveland State and Youngstown State in 1-0 wins.

NAS SENDS IN ANOTHER GAME WINNER

• Freshman Nasreen Kobeissi has seven points on the year, but they have all been in critical moments, including the game-winning marker in a 1-0 triumph in double overtime at Wright State last Friday to help the Titans clinch a playoff spot. 
• She helped the Titans beat Green Bay as she tallied the game-winning goal in overtime in a 1-0 win. 
• She netted her first collegiate goal of the game, which turned out to be the game-winner, in a 2-0 victory at Northwood.
• Her other point was an assist on Julie Ann Piechocki's game-winning goal at Toledo earlier in the season, another overtime contest. 

DOYLE WITH THE HEADER

• Kelli Doyle earned Horizon League All-Freshman accolades last year and helped the Titans earn a big win heading in the first goal in a 2-0 win at Wright State in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals.
• Just two weeks ago, she scored the lone goal off a header in a 1-0 victory against Youngstown State.
• Last year, she started all 17 games she appeared in and was second on the team with nine points and tied for second with four goals.    

PARRA WITH THE GOAL

• Sophomore Olivia Parra registered two assists as a freshman, but she found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal at NKU late in the game and sending it to overtime.
• Parra - who is one of the main Titan defenders - was able to get in the box and take the free kick from freshman Julie Ann Piechocki and a pass from sophomore Rachel Russo to beat the keeper. 

RUSSO FOR THREE

• Sophomore Rachel Russo has three assists on the year and they have come in the last eight games with two at NKU and one at Northwood. 
• Last season in just her second collegiate game, she scored three second-half goals in a 3-0 win at Purdue Fort Wayne. 
• The hat trick was the first by a Titan since Alyssa Riley did it against Marygrove in 2013, and the first Titan freshman to net a hat trick since Tanya Tiselj had three in 1999 versus Bowling Green. 

HONOR THY CAPTAINS

• Seniors Molly Kane and Carly Fiorido will serve as captains for the Titans this season. 
• Fiorido has started all 74 games in which she has appeared in the backline and earned the Defensive Award and Team MVP last season.
• Kane has been a steady offensive and defensive player for the Titans and has started all 74 games she has played in at the midfield.