The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 1, Cleveland State 1
Records: Detroit Mercy 1-14-3 (0-6-2 HL), Cleveland State 4-8-3 (1-4-3 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (11/2/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team closed out the 2018 campaign with a 1-1 draw Friday from Titan Field on Senior Day. Prior to the match, the Titans honored and recognized the two Detroit Mercy seniors --
Grant Harrison and
Kevin Tapchom.
The Titans and Cleveland State were deadlocked for much of the match at 0-0 with Detroit Mercy getting several good looks on net.
Detroit Mercy finally broke through in the 82nd minute to take a 1-0 lead on an own goal after pressure from Detroit Mercy led the Vikings to misplay a ball in their own end. After a punt from freshman GK
Devin Mendez out of the Titans own end, redshirt sophomore defender
Justin Murray played a ball towards the net that found junior
Jake Reitzloff. The CSU defense cut him off, but knocked the ball into their own net. The Titans would go up 1-0 with less than nine minutes left.
The Vikings upped their pressure in the remaining minutes of regulation and scored the equalizer with 33 seconds left on the clock. After a corner kick, Cleveland State fired off three-straight shots, two of which were on net. After two shots on rebounds, the ball was passed quickly across the box and headed home.
Detroit Mercy had several good scoring opportunities in overtime, the first off a corner kick as Murray and Reitzloff got consecutive shots off in the 95th minute. Just seconds later junior
Aleks Vushaj pushed a header just wide of the post. Neither team had a shot in the second overtime frame as the two sides finished their seasons with a draw.
The best Titan opportunities came in the first 45 minutes with freshman
Dominic Gatson pushing a header just high of the crossbar in the fifth minute. Junior defender
Garret Weaver hit the post with a header later in the first half and sophomore
Demetri Pliakos pushed a shot wide in the box after he was played in behind the Cleveland State defense. Junior
James Solomon and freshman
Jason Blackwell also had shots on goal that were turned aside in the first half.
Detroit Mercy had eight shots in the first half and finished with a 14-11 edge in the contest. Four of those shots came in overtime. Cleveland State had a 9-6 advantage in corner kicks, while 39 total fouls were called in the match, including four yellow cards (two for each team).
Reitzloff and Pliakos led the Titans with three shots each, while Gatson finished with two.
Titan News & Notes
• Titan defenders
Grant Harrison and
Garret Weaver were each named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team on Friday.
• Detroit Mercy is 17-11-3 all-time against Cleveland State, including 10-2-1 at home.
• It was the third tie of the season from Titan Field (Green Bay, Purdue Fort Wayne being the others).
• Weaver was the only Titan to start in every single match this season and it was his 48th straight start in the red, white and blue.
• The Titans' 14 shots were a high for a Horizon League contest in 2018.
• Tapchom was making his second career start in a Titan uniform, both of them this season.
