DETROIT (2/9/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will make its season debut on Sunday, Feb. 11, as the Titans visit the nationally-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Game time is set for 1 p.m. and will be played indoors at the Loftus Sports Center. The contest will air live on ACC Network Extra/ESPN3 via the WatchESPN app and will also feature live stats.

The Titans – who are entering their 10th varsity season - are 0-2 all-time against Notre Dame falling to a team that was ranked #1/2 in 2016 as well as 9-7 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2013. 

Detroit Mercy will also look for its first-ever triumph ever over a nationally ranked program as the red, white and blue are 0-13 all-time against top-20 teams.

"This is a great opportunity for us, and we are going there to be the best Detroit Mercy team we can be," said head coach Chris Kolon. "We are thankful for this partnership with Notre Dame as we have been able to play them in scrimmages and non-conference match-ups in the last several years and playing a program like that we only help us improve."

Season Preview 
The Titans return over 25 letter-winners from last season and most of their starting offense and defense will be back. The offense brings back more than 70.0 percent of its point scorers, while the defense has all of its top line long pole and midfielders back.

Attack
Junior Matthew VanGalen is back after his first season in Titan Territory, where he was tabbed Second Team All-MAAC after topping the team with 47 points – third in school history – 26 goals – seventh in school history – and 21 assists – tied for second in Titan record books. He was also fourth in the MAAC with 1.31 assists per game, fifth with 2.94 points per game and sixth with 1.63 points per game in 2017. 

He will be joined by two more returnees in senior Alec Gilhooly and sophomore Seth Mendell. Gilhooly had a career year in all categories and was second on the team with 19 goals, tied for second with 26 points and tied for third handing out seven assists. He also tied for the team and conference lead with seven man-up goals, which was also tied for sixth in the nation. 

Mendell made an immediate impact and was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team, He started all 16 games at attack and tied for second on the team with 26 points and eight assists and tied for third scoring 18 goals. He led MAAC freshmen in goals and was second in points and showed he could take over a game scoring six goals – on just six shots – against Bellarmine at the Midwest Classic. 

Some other key attackmen include sophomore Connor Bennardo and freshmen Ryan Figueiras, Keegan Stenstrom and Brett Erskine.

Midfield
The Titans return a bevy of experienced offensive and defensive midfielders, led by seniors Sean Birney, Lucas Ducharme, Charlie Hayes, Marcus Butters and juniors Bo Pickens, Emmett Green and Patrick Walsh. 

Offensively, Birney tallied a career-high 15 goals and 21 points last season and was tied for the team and conference lead with seven man-up goals. Ducharme had five goals and nine points last season and Walsh posted eight goals, seven assists and 15 points.

Defensively, Hayes was selected All-MAAC Second Team last season and already earned preseason nods this year. Already known as one of the best defensive players in the league, his offensive game improved last season as he finished the year with a career-high 21 caused turnovers, while ranking second on the team with a career-best 42 ground balls. He also scored a career-high five goals.

Pickens missed last season with an injury but was an All-MAAC Freshman performer in 2016 showcasing his close defensive skills. Green had two goals, two assists, 11 ground balls and seven caused turnovers as a junior and Butters is a fifth-year senior with plenty of game experience.

The midfield rotation will also include senior Brent Lubin, sophomore Matt Turner and freshmen Ollie Nigh and Brennan Kamish.

Faceoff
Two returning players are back in junior Mike Sforza and sophomore Alex Jarzembowski. 

Jarzembowski was also a freshman who made a huge impact, leading the team in faceoff winning percentage at 57.4 percent (74-of-129) - a new school record and second in the MAAC – and picking up 34 ground balls. 

Sforza has seen limited time at the faceoff X in his first two years, but when he has played, he has made the most of it, tallying six wins at Notre Dame as a freshman in 2016. 

Defense
The Titan defense will have a ton of experience back as well at the long-stick midfielder and long pole units. Seniors Bryan Matney and Will Kane, juniors Austin Ross and Sam Horton and sophomore Alex Akins are all back at defense, while seniors Austin Polson-McCannon and Pat Masterson return at LSM.

Akins earned rave reviews as a rookie as he was selected to the All-MAAC Second Team and All-Rookie Team. As a freshman, he played in all 16 games with 12 starts and posted 12 caused turnovers with 15 ground balls. He also routinely marked the other team's best offensive player. 

Matney played in all 16 games with 13 starts a year ago and Kane saw action in 16 games with 15 starts and had a career-high 17 caused turnovers, while ranking sixth on the squad tallying 22 ground balls. 

Ross battled injuries in his first two seasons, but when he was healthy last year he made a difference and Horton played in 12 games with six starts.

Masterson is not only a leader on defense, but on the entire team. The fifth-year senior was fourth on the team tying his career high with nine caused turnovers and also picked up 18 ground balls and that was after recording 26 as a junior. 

Polson-McCannon appeared in 12 games on the season and tallied 12 ground balls on the year and that was after tallying 10 caused turnovers and 19 ground balls in 2016.  

Goalie
Maybe the biggest loss the Titans will have to overcome is at netminder with the graduation of four-year starter Jason Weber. 

Three players will compete for the starting position in junior Michael Turnbull, redshirt freshman Logan Shamblin and freshman Steven Warren.

Turnbull has yet to see game action during the regular season and Shamblin did not play at all as a rookie. 

All three were accomplished prep players and have been working hard throughout the offseason. 

Schedule
The Titans will once again face some tough competition in the non-conference slate with match-ups against nationally-ranked Notre Dame, Ohio State and Marquette along with road games at Mercer and Jacksonville and a home contest versus Air Force, another program that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. 

The MAAC home slate will have Marist, Quinnipiac and Siena visiting the Motor City and the conference championship is already set to be held at Monmouth in early May.