DETROIT (3/8/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team recorded three wins in the non-conference, but will now turn its attention to conference play as the Titans open up the MAAC at St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

Game time is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+

Detroit Mercy is 3-2 on the season and can tie the 2015 squad for the best six-game start in school history with a win.

The Titans are 6-3 all-time in MAAC openers and 5-4 all-time in MAAC road openers.

St. Bonaventure is 0-3 in its first season of varsity lacrosse, which includes a 15-12 setback in its first MAAC game at Manhattan. The Bonnies have also lost 15-7 at St. Joseph's and 13-0 at High Point.

AGAINST THE MAAC

• Detroit Mercy is 29-27 in regular season league play since joining the MAAC in 2010.
• The Titans set their all-time win mark for conference games in a season last year at 5-1.

ANOTHER HOTEL?

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

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).
• Vangalen leads the team with 23 points on 11 goals and a team-high 12 assists, while Erskine is third on the team with 15 points on 11 goals and four helpers. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ST. BONAVENTURE

• This is the first career meeting between the two schools as St. Bonaventure is one of the newest teams in Division I lacrosse as the Bonnies are in their first year of play. 
• They do have a familiar face on the sidelines that the Titans are aware of in long-time Canisius head coach Randy Mearns, who was 4-5 against the Titans while at Canisius.

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. 

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 11 total have found the back of the net in the first five 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.
• At Air Force this week, he tallied four points on three assists and a goal.
• Vangalen is now third in school history with 121 points and 68 goals and second with 53 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.

VANGALEN WITH A FEW HONORS

• Senior Matthew Vangalen earned a few awards from March 4-6 as he was tabbed the Offensive Player of the Week and to the USILA Team of the Week after tallying nine points on six goals and three assists at Bellarmine.
• He was also named one of the 30 candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS award. 

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 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 20 games, including 10 contests with less than 10 goals. He has also recorded double-digit saves in 14 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 17th in the nation in faceoff percentage winning 60.4percent (84-of-139) with a team-high 29 ground balls. 
• He is currently the school-record holder in winning percentage at 55.2 percent and his 321 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.

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 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 18 career games and 15-straight dating back to last season. 

ERSKINE SHINES

• Sophomore Brett Erskine tallied two-straight hat-trick performances tallying a career-high five goals and six points 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 third on the team with 15 points and tied for second with 11 goals. 

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 six career three-goal games with three markers at Bellarmine and tying his career best with six points on four goals and two assists at Air Force. 
• 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 69 points on 49 goals and 20 assists in 37 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 eight points on six goals and two assists. 

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 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 in 2018. 
• 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 27 caused turnovers and 45 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.
• On the season, he is second on the team with 22 ground balls with at least four GB's in four of the five games on the year.