DETROIT (3/9/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will continue its five-game homestand in the Motor City when the red, white and blue meet the Air Force Academy on Sunday.

It will be Military Appreciation Day and all veterans and military personnel will receive free admission to the contest.

Game time has been changed to 11 a.m., and will be played on campus at Titan Field. The contest can also be seen on ESPN3 and will have live stats.

The Titans are 2-4 on the season, but have played and nearly upset some tough competition, falling to nationally-ranked Marquette, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Detroit Mercy fell by one goal to the Buckeyes and three to the Fighting Irish.

Tickets to the game are just $5 for all fans and can be purchased at the gate or online by clicking here. 

THE OPENING FACEOFF

• The Titans will continue their homestand this weekend with their final non-conference game before the start of MAAC play as Detroit Mercy hosts Air Force on Sunday. 
• It will be Military Appreciation Day and all veterans and military personnel will receive free admission to the contest. 

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Titans started the season with three-straight road games, but will enjoy some home cooking with just three more road trips the rest of the season, and all of those are in conference play at Monmouth, Canisius and Manhattan. 

AGAINST THE SOCON

• The Titans are 15-20 all-time against current teams from the Southern Conference, including 4-1 versus VMI, 5-2 against Mercer, 3-7 against Bellarmine, 2-3 against Jacksonville and 0-4 versus Air Force. 
• Detroit Mercy will play four SoCon opponents this year in Bellarmine, Mercer, Jacksonville and Air Force. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. AIR FORCE

• The Titans are winless against the Air Force as the Falcons have won all four meetings.
• Air Force was also one of the original opponents on the Titans' inaugural schedule in 2009.

ABOUT THE FALCONS

• Air Force comes into the weekend at 1-4 overall as the Falcons will play at Michigan on Friday prior to making the drive to the Motor City. 
• The military institution made the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year, going 12-6 overall and 6-1 in the Southern Conference, defeating Jacksonville and Richmond in the SoCon championship. 
• The Falcons have played a pair of ranked teams falling to No. 2 Duke (18-4) and No. 4 Denver (11-5). They have also played one other MAAC school beating Marist on the road, 8-7.
• Nick Hruby leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 12 points, while Matthew Schwartz has tallied five goals. 
• Trent Harper is 65-of-108 at the faceoff X with 28 ground balls. Air Force has played two goalies with Noah Schwab getting the most time in net and making 35 saves with a 13.76 goals against average. 

AWARD WINNERS

• Off a great defensive weekend, two Titans who specialize in stopping the opposing offense earned conference accolades as senior Charlie Hayes and redshirt freshman Logan Shamblin took home MAAC weekly honors last Monday.  
• Hayes was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week for the second time, while Shamblin was awarded his first weekly honor. 
• Hayes posted seven caused turnovers, eight ground balls, an assist and scored a goal at the Midwest Classic. He began the weekend tallying a career-high six caused turnovers and tying his career best with six ground balls against Bellarmine in a game the Titans won 11-5. The six caused turnovers were tied for the second most in school history. He then had a caused turnover, two GB's and scored a goal while playing great defense in a tough 8-7 setback to No. 4/6 Ohio State.
• Shamblin made 28 saves on the weekend stopping a season-high 14 shots in both games and ending with a 68.3 save percentage. He started it with seven saves in the first half as the Titans took a 6-1 lead on Bellarmine en route to the 11-5 victory. 
• Against No. 4/6 Ohio State - who played in the NCAA Championship game last season - he made six saves in the first half and had 11 in the first three quarters as the team had a 6-3 lead over the Buckeyes in the third period.

LOOKING TO FIND A NETMINDER

• The Titans have been fortunate to have a seamless transition in goals in their history, going from four-years starters in AJ Levell (2010-2013) to Jason Weber (2014-17).
• All three goalies on the team came into the season having not played a single minute of college lacrosse. 
• Redshirt freshman Logan Shamblin has started the first six games and has made 64 saves. 
• Weber is a big loss as he ended his career with a school record 690 saves, 13.02 saves per game and a 10.07 goals against average, second in school history with a .568 save percentage and fifth with 164 ground balls.
• He is currently finishing up his degree at Detroit Mercy and will serve as a student assistant coach as he prepares for an opportunity to play with Team Canada at the world lacrosse championship later this year. 

VANTASTIC

• Sophomore transfer Matthew Vangalen had a great start to his Titan career challenging the school record for points in a single season last year, and his 2018 is shaping up to be another banner year.
• He already leads the team with 14 points on a team-best eight assists and is tied for second with six goals. 
• Vangalen tallied a team-high five points on two goals and three assists at Notre Dame and also caused a pair of turnovers. He added two goals at Jacksonville and an assist at Mercer notched a goal with three assists versus No. 4/6 Ohio State. 
• He was selected All-MAAC Second Team in 2017 after posting 47 points – third in school history – 26 goals – seventh in school history – and 21 assists – tied for second in Titan record books.
• He now ranks eighth in school history with 29 assists, tied for 13th with 32 goals and 12th with 61 career points. 

ERSKINE ARRIVES

• Freshman Brett Erskine made a name for himself and the nation took notice of his play.
• At Mercer, he recorded his first collegiate points on two goals and an assist and all three came in dramatic fashion, earning him the MAAC Co-Rookie of the Week. 
• His assist came on the Titans' sixth goal in a comeback victory at Mercer, while his first goal tied the game at 7-7 with just 19 seconds left.
• Erskine's final marker was the game-winner in overtime.
• He has now tallied two goals and an assist in three games this season and is second on the team with nine points and tied for second with six goals. 
• Also, he has taken just 13 shots and 12 have been on goal. 

    
KAMISH CONNECTION

• Freshman Brennan Kamish has had a strong start to his collegiate career scoring a goal in five of the six games on the season. 
• He tallied his first career marker at #6/6 Notre Dame. He also posted two at Mercer, against Bellarmine and versus No. 4/6 Ohio State. 

CANADIAN POWER

• The Titans top two point scorers are both Canadian in junior Matthew Vangalen and Brett Erskine.
• When you add in junior Patrick Walsh's five goals, senior Lucas Ducharme's four goals and an assist and senior Marcus Butter' one marker, Canadians have accounted for 22 goals, 12 assists and 34 points.
• As a team, the Titans have 47 goals, 30 assists and 77 points.

LOOKING FOR MORE

• Senior Alec Gilhooly will look for another career season as he set career highs in almost every statistical category as a junior, and he just had a pair of markers against Marquette. 
• Gilhooly finished 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.
• In the MAAC semifinals against eventual conference champion Monmouth, he recorded a career-high four goals.
• Gilhooly just tallied his third hat trick of the year with three markers against Bellarmine. 
• In his career, he has 38 goals and 16 assists for 54 points. 

LEAVE IT TO AKINS

• Sophomore defender Alex Akins had a strong start to his second season posting a pair of caused turnovers and limiting Notre Dame attackers in the season opener. 
• He has now caused a turnover in five of the six games on the season and is second on the squad with nine caused turnovers. 
• Akins recorded a career-high three caused turnovers and seven ground balls at Mercer. 
• As a freshman, he earned All-MAAC Second Team and All-Rookie Team recognition after playing in all 16 games with 12 starts and was third on the team with 12 caused turnovers while picking up 15 ground balls.    

WHEN IT IS A COMEBACK, COUNT BUTTERS IN 

• Senior midfielder Marcus Butters has two career goals and both have been when the Titans have needed it the most - during a comeback.
• At Siena in 2015, Detroit Mercy was down 13-10 entering the fourth when his first collegiate marker sparked a rally as the Titans won, 14-13.
• At Mercer earlier this season, the Titans were down 7-3 in the fourth and he scored another goal as Detroit Mercy came back to win, 8-7 in overtime.

DON'T MESS WITH TEX

• Senior Will Kane had two ground balls in the season opener at Notre Dame and tied his career high with three caused turnovers at Jacksonville. 
• He played in all 16 games with 15 starts last season and was second on the Team with a career-high 17 caused turnovers and sixth racking up a career-best 22 ground balls.
• He has played in 42 career games and has tallied 29 caused turnovers - eighth in school history - and 55 ground balls. 

PAT IN THE TOP 10

• Senior LSM Pat Masterson had registered a caused turnover in each of the first six games as well as three ground balls at #6/6 Notre Dame as well as four ground balls against Bellarmine and a season-high five versus No. 4/6 Ohio State. 
• He is now top 10 in school history in both categories as he is seventh with 31 caused turnovers and tied for eighth with 86 GB's.