DETROIT (8/16/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team will start its 2018 season on the road as the Titans visit Western Michigan on Friday.
Game time is set for 5 p.m., at the WMU Soccer Complex and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be provided.
Detroit Mercy is 5-3 all-time against Western Michigan and 2-2 on the road, but the teams have not met in the regular season since 2003.
Season Preview
Detroit Mercy returns 20 players and seven starters from last year's team that went through a rough patch, ending the year at 4-13-1 overall and 1-8 in the Horizon League. Nine of the 13 losses were by one goal so with a little luck, the Titans could have easily picked up a few more wins.
"Our team chemistry is really good right now," said head coach Mike Lupenec, who enters his 26th season as the Titan head coach. "The ladies really worked hard during the summer to get ready for this year so we're fairly healthy. It's going to have to be a team effort to win games. I think they realize that, but we have freshmen that have worked hard since they got here and they're going to have to step up and they've already done that in the preseason. We have a couple of freshmen that have to contribute this year, but we have a lot of juniors and seniors that came back ready to play. It's always a good sign when your upperclassmen are ready to play."
Forwards
The Titans came up short on the offensive end last season, but bring back a trio of players with experience to help progress the scoring output. Back are two of the top three scorers in sophomores Kelli Doyle and Rachel Russo along with junior Casey Couturier.
Doyle was tabbed to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team as she was second on the team with nine points and tied for second with four goals playing in 17 of the team's 18 games. Russo started the first 12 games of the year before a knee injury ended her rookie season and she tallied four goals, three alone in a win at Fort Wayne, while Couturier missed the first half of the year coming back from an injury and was a member of the HL All-Freshman squad in 2016.
"Kelli has done a tremendous job getting ready this year," Titans head coach Mike Lupenec said. "Her fitness level is probably twice as good as it was last year. She did a lot of work so we're counting on a lot from Kelli this season, but also Russo, bouncing back from a knee injury. We'll have to throw her in the starting lineup right away, but she's a seasoned kid and a hard worker. She also did a lot of work bouncing back from her injury. Hopefully we'll keep her healthy moving forward."
Seniors Molly Kane and Caitlin Carroll along with freshman Julie Ann Piechocki will also help the team from scoring when they move upfront. Senior Kelsey Mendez notched a goal in the preseason, while freshman Nasreen Kobeissi is a rookie to keep an eye on.
"Casey Couturier (is) a wide player that's got to help us this year,"said Lupenec. "She's a junior and she has worked hard to get where her fitness is now. People won't know that much about her because she didn't play last year. She's aggressive, she's great in the air and she can beat people 1-v-1."
Midfield
Detroit Mercy will have plenty of experience at the midfield with Kane, Carroll, senior Elizabeth Gonser, junior Megan Pace and sophomore Sophie Mapes all returning.
Kane is a senior captain and has started all 53 games in her career and is more of a defensive leader on the field, but she can score when called upon. Carroll notched a goal on 10 shots last season.
"Molly's a senior captain, so she's been there for four years," Lupenec stated. "She's got to lead. And a healthy Caitlin Carroll will also help also, just cause of her experience and things like that moving forward."
Elby, Gonser and Mapes are all defensive specialist with experience and freshman Hannah Alexis should play a lot as a rookie.
"Mapes has experience from last season so she'll have to contribute a lot in that position. We added a freshman in Hannah Alexis and she could play a defensive mid role. Hannah is good on the ball, sees the field well. But with all freshmen, they have to adapt to how fast the game is."
Defense
The Titans will have to deal with the loss of all-around player Rachel DeLuca, but the defense does return senior captain Carly Fiorido and sophomores Olivia Parra and Neteya Tavernier. Fiorido was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year and Team MVP following last season and has started all 55 games in her career.
"Carly is a leader for our team and one of the best players in the conference," said Lupenec. "The defense is basically going to be our strongest point and when you realize we have three sophomores there in that lineup that played a lot last season. I think last year, even though we didn't get the victories, it gave them minutes to understand the game better and realize how fast and how good Division I forwards are.
Olivia Parra started the first 12 games of the year before a season-ending injury, while Tavernier saw action in 10 games with five starts.
"We lost Olivia Parra for off most of the year last year with a concussion. She's back healthy and she's a big leader. Neteya started a lot of minutes, so she's a lot better than she was last year and Olivia Elby saw some time," added Lupenec.
The backline also has some more veteran experience with senior Chloe Ricciardi and sophomore transfer Ana Ginez.
Goalies
The red, white and blue should be in good hands at the netminder position with seniors Marina Manzo and Sarah Hirschmann.
Manzo started all 18 games in 2017 and posted 86 saves on the year – second in the Horizon League – with five shutouts. She was third in the HL in saves per game (4.78), fourth in shutouts and was fifth in save percentage (.782) as she tallied a season-high nine twice at Pittsburgh and at Northern Arizona. She enters her senior season fourth in school history with 265 saves, second in goals against average (1.25), fourth with 17 shutouts, fifth in wins (24) and save percentage (.782) and seventh in saves per game (4.42).
Hirschmann is a quiet leader, but someone who can step right in and start. She has seen action in three games in her career, registering a win in her collegiate debut against Eastern Michigan, 2-1, in overtime.
"Our goaltending staff, with Marina and Sarah, are probably one and two," Lupenec said. "Most programs probably don't have two good goalies and we're fortunate enough that we do. We also have a bunch of freshmen that are looking to contribute down the road, too."
Schedule
The Titans will have more road games than home contests this season, including five of the first six on the road and five of the nine conference games.
"It's going to help a lot to be on the road early and to learn how to win on the road," said Lupenec. "To win in the Horizon League or to make it in the playoffs, you have to win road games. It's easy to win home games; you're comfortable, you're sleeping in your own bed, stuff like that. To go on the road against the MAC schools and go to Florida and play USF, who's one of the best teams in their conference, that's going to be a challenge. The first five games are definitely going to let us know as a coaching staff where we stand, but the competition in the non-conference will get us ready for the Horizon League."
