DETROIT (2/24/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team prepares for its third-straight road contest to open the 2018 season, visiting American University in Washington, D.C. for a 12 p.m. ET game on Sunday.

The game may be seen live and for free via the Patriot League Network at noon. Admission into the contest from Jacobs Field on American's campus is also free.
 

Game 3  |  Detroit Mercy (0-2) vs. American (0-2)
Date / Time	Sunday, Feb. 25 // 12 p.m. ET
Location / Tickets	Washington, D.C. (Jacobs Field) // Ticket Info: FREE
Live Stats	DetroitTitans.com
Live Steam / TV	Patriot League Network
Social Media	Twitter (In-game Tweets): @DetroitWL  |  Facebook     Instagram  |  Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	First Meeting

Quick Hits
• Detroit Mercy had a SoCon-best five players on the 14-member Preseason All-League Team. Senior defenders Emma Mucci and Lauren Webley, junior attacker Lexie Kinmond, junior midfielder Morgan Girardi and redshirt-sophomore Kaitlyn Wandelt were each voted to the preseason squad.
• The Titans return 10 of 12 starters from a season ago and also brings back 76 percent of its points from last season (206 out of 270).
• Sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Wandelt leads the Titans with four goals and one assist after the first two games of the year.
• The Titans opened the season playing two Big Ten opponents in 11th-ranked Northwestern and Ohio State on the road.
• Junior goalkeeper Allison McDonough also has 21 saves after two games and tallied 13 saves at OSU, her 18th career game of 10 or more saves.
• McDonough ranks second in the league in total ground balls with nine and second in ground balls per game (4.50).
• She leads the conference so far in caused turnovers per game (2.50) and saves per game (10.50).
• Wandelt has 80 goals and 94 points in her Titan career; She would become the 10th player in school history with 100 or more points with six more points.
• Wandelt's hat trick at Ohio State was her 17th career hat trick.
• Junior attacker Lexie Kinmond has 85 career goals and 52 assists for 137 career points; She just recently went into fourth place in Titan history.
• Following two games, Detroit Mercy leads the SoCon in saves per game (10.50).
• Junior midfielder Morgan Girardi leads all Titan field players with five GB, while senior Lauren Webley leads the field players in caused turnovers with three.
• Laurie Merian is in her second full season as head coach of the Titans. She has a 40-31 career record as a head coach.
• The Titans are in their 10th season of women's lacrosse and first as a member of the Southern Conference.

Webley Named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week
Senior defender Lauren Webley (Whitby, Ont.) earned the first Defensive Player of the Week laurel from the conference in women's lacrosse on Tuesday, Feb. 13 with the Southern Conference in its first season of the sport. It was also Webley's first career weekly honor.

The senior defender totaled four ground balls and three caused turnovers at No. 11-ranked Northwestern. Her four ground balls were the best for any field player in the game. Webley had three of the eight Titan caused turnovers against the Wildcats.

New Year, New League
The Titans are competing out of a new conference for the 2018 season with the Titans joining the Southern Conference (SoCon) for the inaugural season of women's lacrosse in the league. It's the third conference for Detroit Mercy after stints with the National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) from 2010-12 and the ASUN Conference (2013-17).

The Titans made four-straight ASUN Championship games from 2013-16 and was the first time in ASUN history to defeat Jacksonville, knocking them off in the semifinals of the ASUN Tournament in 2016.

The SoCon conference this season is comprised of Central Michigan, Delaware State, Furman, Mercer, Wofford and the Titans. Wofford is competing in its first season of women's lacrosse. Detroit Mercy is the elder statesmen in the league, entering its 10th season.

The Titans were picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll, behind Furman, Mercer and Central Michigan.

Scouting American
The Eagles just recently fell to SoCon foe Central Michigan by a 12-10 margin on Friday. It was the second game of the season for American, which is 0-2 to begin the 2018 season. Both games have been played at home for the Eagles.

American is averaging 8.0 goals per game through the first two games. AU also fell to Richmond in its season opener on Feb. 17, 13-6. Leading the Eagles in scoring is Emma Vinall, who has a team-best five goals and also posted nine draw controls vs. the Chippewas on Friday. Fiona Geier has played all 120 minutes in net so far, making 14 saves in each contest for the Eagles.

It's the first meeting in women's lacrosse between the two programs.

Team Captains
Senior defenders Emma Mucci and Lauren Webley were selected as captains for the second consecutive season, while junior attacker Lexie Kinmond was named a team captain for the first time. All three players have played important roles in the team's success across the past several campaigns, with Mucci and Webley mainstays on the back line across their Titan careers. Mucci was Second Team All-ASUN last season.

Kinmond was First Team All-Atlantic Sun last year after earning All-Freshman Team accolades in 2016.
 

On our way to D.C. for the weekend and we have a special visitor on this trip! #DetroitsCollegeTeam #revenegetour #Kman pic.twitter.com/hkmrPkUTJw

— Detroit Mercy WLAX (@DetroitWL) February 23, 2018

Up Next
Detroit Mercy again hits the road next weekend, visiting Butler on Saturday, March 3 before heading to Cincinnati for a meeting with the Bearcats on Monday, March 5. The Titans' first home game of the season follows that with Detroit Mercy host Saint Francis on Thursday, March 15 at 3 p.m. from Titan Field.