DETROIT  (3/4/2019) -- Looking to run its winning streak to three in a row, the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will have one final tune-up before the start of conference play as the Titans travel to the Air Force Academy on Wednesday, March 6.

Game time is set for Noon (EST) at Falcon Field and there will be a live web stream on the Mountain West Network as well as live audio through Lacrosse Talk Radio.

Detroit Mercy is off to its best start in school history at 3-1 with road wins the last two weeks at Bellarmine and at Marquette.

The Titan offense has been clicking with back-to-back 15-goal efforts as senior Matthew Vangalen and sophomore Brett Erskine each have 10 goals apiece. Part of that offensive game has been the dominance at faceoffs as junior Alex Jarzembowski is ninth in the nation in winning percentage at 64.5 percent and just broke his own school record winning 27-of-33 with a program-best 15 ground balls at Bellarmine. 

Air Force is 3-2 on the season with wins over Cleveland State (11-8) and MAAC foes Marist (12-6) and at Canisius (13-7). 

Detroit Mercy will begin MAAC play on the weekend at new member St. Bonaventure. 

ANOTHER HOTEL?

• Detroit Mercy is currently playing its fourth-straight road game in a stretch of six straight away from the Motor City.

AGAINST THE SOCON

• The Titans are 16-18 all-time against current teams from the Southern Conference, including 4-1 versus VMI, 5-2 against Mercer, 3-3 against Jacksonville, 4-7 against Bellarmine and 0-5 versus Air Force. 
• This is the third SoCon opponent on the schedule for the Titans, who have already defeated Bellarmine and Jacksonville. 

CANADIAN POWER

• The Titans top two returning point scorers are both Canadian in senior Matthew Vangalen (51, 31 g, 20 a) and sophomore Brett Erskine (35, 22 g, 13 a).
• Both are on top of the team lead with 10 goals, while Vangalen has nine assists for 19 points and Erskine three for 13. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. AIR FORCE

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

NO FLAGS?

• For the first time in school history - spanning 147 games - the Titans did not have a penalty called against them in their 15-14 win over Bellarmine. 

MARKING UP OUR RECORD BOOK

• The Titans have now scored 15 goals in two-straight games, tied for sixth in school history.
• The Titans' 50 shots at Bellarmine was the fourth most in school history and the most since firing 53 against Siena last year, while the 45 ground balls are tied for the fourth most in school history. 

BIG WIN OVER OUR JESUIT BROTHERS

• Detroit Mercy recorded its first-ever win against the BIG EAST and Marquette as the Titans downed the Golden Eagles, 15-12.

BALANCED OFFENSE

• The Titans had 16 players score a goal last season, with five players at 15 or more and eight registering at least 10 markers.
• The offense is already off to the same kind of start sharing the ball as six players scored in the season-opening win over Jacksonville and 10 total have found the back of the net in the first four games.

VANTASTIC

• Senior Matthew Vangalen set the school record for points last season recording 51 points on a career-high 31 goals with 20 assists and he is off to another excellent start that could see him challenge that mark. 
• He posted his 10th career hat trick with four goals and five points at nationally-ranked Notre Dame and followed that up with his 11th registering three goals and a helper in the win at Marquette and 12th with a season-high six points on three goals and a school-record six assists at Bellarmine. 
• His third goal at Bellarmine was the game winner with 10 seconds left in a 15-14 contest.
• Vangalen is now third in school history with 117 points and 67 goals and second with 50 assists. 
• Vangalen - a preseason All-MAAC selection by the coaches and Inside Lacrosse - was a Second Team All-MAAC honoree last year for the second-straight season.
• He was seventh in the MAAC in points per game (3.19), assists per game (1.25) and goals per game (1.94), while tying for first with three game-winning goals and 10th in shots per game (5.88) and broke the school record with 11 points with a program-tying seven goals and four assists at Manhattan.

THE BIG LOGAN

• Sophomore Logan Shamblin showed no signs of a sophomore slump in the season opener as he tied his career high with 15 saves in the 9-8 victory over Jacksonville.
• Following that game, he was tabbed the MAAC's Defensive Player of the Week. 
• He just made 11 saves in the big road win at Marquette and nine at Bellarmine. 
• He has now allowed 10 goals or less in 14 of his 19 games, including 10 contests with less than 10 goals. He has also recorded double-digit saves in 13 career games, with 15 also against Siena last season.
• He was a member of the All-Freshman Team last year as he started all 15 games and picked up nine wins, including going 5-0 in the MAAC during the regular season.
• Shamblin ended the year 14th in the nation in save percentage (.544), 18th in saves per game (10.8) and 20th in goals-against average (9.13), and his 162 saves was the fifth most in school history, while his goals against average was second and save percentage fourth.
• Last year, he made his collegiate debut at nationally-ranked Notre Dame and tallied 11 saves and three ground balls. 

ALEX THE GREAT 

• Junior Alex Jarzembowski - a preseason All-MAAC selection by the coaches and Inside Lacrosse - is currently second in the MAAC and seventh in the nation in faceoff percentage winning 64.5 percent (71-of-110) with a team-high 26 ground balls. 
• He is currently the school-record holder in winning percentage at 55.8 percent and his 308 career wins are second behind only Brandon Davenport's 334 (2010-13). 
• He started the 2019 season off with a big performance in the win over Jacksonville, winning 15-of-21 faceoffs with five ground balls and scoring his first two collegiate goals.
• Coming into the contest, he had attempted just one shot in his first two seasons. 
• For that effort, he was tabbed the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 4. 
• Jarzembowski was named to the All-MAAC Second Team in 2018 as he set a school record winning 163-of-313 (.521) with a career-best 46 ground balls, third on the team. In MAAC play, he boasted a .553 winning percentage (77-of-139). 

NOTHING BUT JARZ

• Junior Alex Jarzembowski already had his name on top of the Titan record book in faceoff wins as he twice tied a school record with 16, but he now has the mark all to himself, breaking that mark in back-to-back games.
• He was just 27-of-33 with a program-best 15 ground balls in the victory at Bellarmine, where he won the game's last 13 faceoffs and also scored a goal. 
• The 27 faceoffs are tied for the second most in the nation alongside Marist's Peyton Smith (27 vs. Hartford) and behind only Hobart's Matthew Pedicine's 32 at Siena. 
• At Marquette, he was 19-of-30 with five ground balls and a goal.     
• He has now won double-digit faceoffs in 17 career games and 14-straight dating back to last season. 

ERSKINE SHINES

• Sophomore Brett Erskine is coming off two-straight hat-trick performances tallying a career-high five goals and six points last week in the win at Bellarmine and four goals and five points in the triumph at Marquette. 
• A couple of his goals on the season have been highlight reel acrobatic dives to the net. 
• For his effort against Marquette, he was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career. 
• Erskine earned MAAC All-Rookie Team recognition last season after he started all 16 games and was second on the team in points (35), goals (22) and assists (13).
• He also led the team and was second in the MAAC and 22nd in the nation in shot percentage at .449.
• Erskine scored a goal in the last 10 games on the season and had nine multi-goal contests on the year, while picking up 25 ground balls, tying for the team high among attackman.
• He is now tied for the team lead with 10 goals and is second with 13 points. 

MENDELL OFF TO A QUICK START

• Junior Seth Mendell could not wait for the season to start as he led the Titan offense with three goals and four points in the 9-8 victory over Jacksonville.
• It was his fourth career hat trick and he would up that to five career three-goal games with three markers at Bellarmine last week. 
• In the win at Marquette, he posted two goals and an assist. 
• Despite battling an injury, Mendell played in all 16 games with 14 starts last year and finished third on the team with a career-high 27 points, tied for third with a career-best 19 goals and fifth handing out eight assists, tying his rookie mark.
• In his career, he has 63 points on 45 goals and 18 assists in 36 games. 

DIAPER DANDY

• Freshman Cam Kostus was not shy in his collegiate debut firing a team-high 11 shots and finishing with a goal, assist and three ground balls in the win over Jacksonville. 
• At Notre Dame, he scored one goal on three shots and just recorded his first collegiate hat trick with three goals in the road win at Marquette.
• On the season, he has six points on five goals and a helper. 

BLEVINS, VOORHIS WITH SCORES

• Sophomore Matt Blevins and freshman AJ Van Voorhis each had a solid game at Marquette as Blevins scored his first collegiate goal and Voorhis tallied his first points on a goal and two assists. 
• Both came back strong last week in the win at Bellarmine as Blevins added two more strikes and Voorhis had two assists, including setting up Matthew Vangalen's game-winning goal with 10 seconds left in the game. 

AKINS LEADS THE D

• Junior defender Alex Akins - a preseason All-MAAC selection by the coaches and Inside Lacrosse - has earned All-MAAC honors in his first two years, including First Team accolades last season. 
• A team captain, he was fifth on the squad with 11 caused turnovers and seventh picking up a career-high 23 ground balls in 2018. 
• He is a key cog on the Titan defense that produced  8.56 caused turnovers per game to not only lead the MAAC, but also rank eighth in the country, as well as ranking second in the conference and 19th in the nation in scoring defense at 9.38 goals per game.
• In his career, he has 25 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls. 

WHAT A GAME FOR MCCLAIN

• Redshirt sophomore Sam McClain had a big week on defense for the Titans in the win at Marquette as he helped shut down All-BIG EAST First Team selection John Wagner, holding the Golden Eagles attackman two just two assists and no goals on his 10 shots.
• McClain was credited with a caused turnover and two ground balls in the contest. 

HORTON WITH THE CAUSE

• Senior Sam Horton is back as one of the stalwarts on the defensive side of the ball.
• He played in all 16 games with 15 starts last year and helped the defense tally 8.56 caused turnovers per game to not only lead the MAAC, but also rank eighth in the country, as well as ranking second in the conference and 19th in the nation in scoring defense at 9.38 goals per game.
• Horton was second on the team with a career-high 19 caused turnovers and ranked fifth in the MAAC with 1.19 caused turnovers per game. 
• In his career, he has 27 caused turnovers.

LEAVE IT TO THE LSM

• Sophomore Paul Manuszak had a fine rookie campaign and came back with a big debut in the season-opening victory over Jacksonville as he tallied a career-best three caused turnovers and six ground balls.
• He was back on his game in the win at Marquette coming up with a caused turnover and six more GB's and picked up five more ground balls at Bellarmine. 
• He appeared in all 16 games as a rookie and had two goals, 17 ground balls and three caused turnovers. He scored his first collegiate goal on his first-ever shot against Air Force.