The Basics
Final Score: #6-Milwaukee 2, #3-Detroit Mercy 0
Records: Detroit Mercy 7-11-1, Milwaukee 10-6-2
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Titan Field)
DETROIT (11/11/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team battled the elements and the opposing team in a quarterfinal match of the Horizon League Championship, with the Titans falling on the wrong side of a 2-0 match from a snowy Titan Field on Monday. The match was moved to 11 a.m. ET to offset the steady accumulation of snow in the metro Detroit area.
After the Titan facilities crew and staff members spent the majority of the morning clearing the field, both teams looked to gain their footing on the slippery pitch. Neither team could find the back of the net in the opening half with the opening 45 minutes yielding just seven shots total.
Milwaukee scored its first goal early in the second half after several shots to open the half. Milwaukee forward Evan Conway was played into the box by Vuk Latinovich and finished past Titan keeper
Devin Mendez, sending a shot over Mendez and underneath the crossbar in the 51st minute.
Ten minutes later, junior midfielder
Collin Cavanaugh had a great look at the net, sending a long shot to the top corner of the net, but Milwaukee goalkeeper Freddy Lorenzen made the sprawling save. Just minutes later, Mendez landed awkwardly in the box after a collision with a Milwaukee played near the post and was forced to leave the match with an injury.
Milwaukee then scored its second goal with Josh Kaye sending in a cross to Joshua Kidder, who header to ball past Titan keeper
Evan Mazurek to the far side of the goal in the 71st minute. Just a few minutes later, Detroit Mercy had a good chance with a pair of shots in the box as sophomore defender
Ryan Halloran's shot was blocked and then sophomore forward
Kyle Bandyk's follow-up attempt was saved by Lorenzen as the goalkeeper was out of net. The Panthers nearly added a third goal just minutes later, but Latinovich's shot on a wide-open net went high of the bar.
Detroit Mercy junior
Demetri Pliakos had a shot on goal in the 83rd minute, but it was turned away by Lorenzen. It was the final look on goal for the red, white and blue in the match.
The shots in the match were fairly even with Milwaukee edging the Titans, 12-11. Both teams had five shots on goal, while Detroit Mercy had the advantage in corner kicks, 9-7. Bandyk led the Titans with three shots, two of them on goal, while Cavanaugh also added three shots for the red, white and blue.
Mendez, who was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, made two saves in net, while Mazurek turned away one shot.
It was the final match in the careers of Titans
Max Becker,
Sami Nouri,
Jake Reitzloff,
Justin Schueneman,
Aleks Vushaj and
Garret Weaver. The squad reached two postseasons with Detroit Mercy and a Horizon League semifinal appearance in 2017.
Titan News & Notes
• It was the seventh meeting in the postseason between the two teams and second time in three seasons with Detroit Mercy advancing past the Panthers in PK in 2017.
• Detroit Mercy was playing in its sixth postseason in 10 seasons under head coach
Nicholas Deren '99.
• Titan senior defender
Garret Weaver and Mendez were each named All-Horizon League prior to the match.
• Mendez, a Second Team All-Horizon League honoree, also earned HL Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday (second weekly honor in 2019).
• Detroit Mercy's seven victories in 2019 tied for the most by the squad since the 2014 season (three times reaching seven victories in the past five seasons -- 2015, 2017, 2019).
• Weaver closed out his career as the first Titan field player in Deren's tenure to play every single minute in the season; He started in 67-straight matches to finish his career.
