DETROIT (9/25/2020) -- Spiro and Demetri Pliakos have always shared a close brotherly bond on and off the athletic field. That bond was never more evident than when the Pliakos shared -- and still share -- the soccer field for University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer.

"We are always close regardless, but definitely our lives revolved around that competitive aspect in whatever we were doing, whether it was soccer, basketball, baseball, now golf, playing video games," older brother, Spiro Pliakos, said. "We always pushed ourselves to be better, learning from each other and we always shared that brotherly bond over anything sports-related."

"It's just him and myself (as siblings), so we've always been very close and best friends," Demetri Pliakos added. "We've done everything together since a young age, whether that's playing sports in the backyard or basketball in the driveway, just hanging out and doing things together. I always looked up to him and we always had a good bond together being two brothers. It's always been important and helped us grow together."

That brotherly bond has paid dividends for the Titan men's soccer team in the past six-plus years. Spiro Pliakos first stepped onto campus as a standout in the fall of 2014, while Demetri Pliakos followed him to the University just three years later in 2017 and has been an important figure for the Titans since then.

For one year -- in 2017 -- the pair played together on the field for the Titans.
 

"It was a really cool experience, especially for me, it was my freshman year," Demetri said. "Spiro was a senior and had been in the program for three years. The team was great, he had made some good strides in that last year, so it was good to see his work ethic, how hard he worked, seeing what he did in practice and in the games. We got to play together in quite a few games, so overall it was just a valuable learning experience for me and I really looked up to him that year to try and get better for my sophomore year."

The duo shared the field in several games during that 2017 season in which the Titans had several highlight games, including a 2-2 tie at nationally-ranked Ohio State, when the Pliakos brothers first started in a match together.

"Starting together at Ohio State as far as a personal moment would probably be it for me," Demetri said. "He was number seven and I was number eight, so we ended up being able to stand next to each other. But really, just being able to practice every day, being on the same team and being together constantly all of the time. Whether it was at practice, on road trips, in games, really the whole year was a great moment for me."

"Definitely the Ohio State game, starting together, was really cool standing next to my brother in the starting lineup. The other game that was really cool was when he got his first assist -- the Belmont game, we won 4-0, he assisted on one of Tyler Moorman's goals, that was a really cool moment," Spiro added. "Basically any time he played it was awesome to see him out there and he was playing well. Just being with him, day-in and day-out, watching him train, typical brother stuff that we did throughout our lives and adding the soccer element to it as well, it was definitely a treat."

The pair were part of a squad that recorded four league wins and reached the Horizon League semifinals in 2017 after advancing past Milwaukee on the road in penalty kicks, 5-4.
 

Spiro Pliakos concluded his standout career at the end of that season in 2017 and finished as one of just two players in school history to earn All-Conference accolades in all four seasons. He also became the first Titan male student-athlete in school history to be voted First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017. He was two-time All-Region and the 2014 Horizon League Freshman of the Year. He totaled 18 goals, 17 assists and 53 points in 62 career games (59 starts) and was 12th in career points and tied-for-12th in assists in Titan history at the finish of his career in the red, white and blue.

Demetri Pliakos ranked second on the squad a season ago with five points (two goals, one assist) and led the team in game-winning goals (two), shots (51) and shots on goal (18). He has started 33 of 36 matches in the past two seasons and has 82 shots over those two seasons. He was 11th in the Horizon League this past season in shots per game (2.83) and had a pivotal game-winning goal in double-overtime against IUPUI as Detroit Mercy earned the No. 3 seed last season following regular-season play.

Head coach Nicholas Deren has had several brother tandems go through his program -- Alex and Ryan Mendonca as well as Nathan and Spencer Steinwascher -- and currently has a pair of twins in his program with sophomores Aidan and Liam Spratt. He's enjoyed watching the Pliakos brothers relationship blossom for his program.

"We always look at our program as open and welcoming to the family aspect," Deren said. "To have had some brothers play in our program and a few of them with each other at the same time, it's really cool. Spiro and Demetri, you could see the connection in the limited minutes and how they looked to play with and off each other.

"Spiro has brought Demetri along through the Division I game. He showed his brother how to do extra rehab and extra things and to make him a more durable player. That Pliakos connection is still in our program. Spiro still cares about the program. To have the family there all of the time for the past seven years has been awesome. They are such wonderful people and supporters of the program. Spiro has his Master's (degree) and Demetri will have his as well, they are super soccer players and successful people. Spiro's influence on his brother has been great, he's always looking to help him out."

The brother pair learned the game from their father, Chris Pliakos, and the game has spread throughout their entire family with a pair of cousins currently playing in the Pac-12.

"My dad played growing up, played at Oakland for a year after coming over from Greece," Spiro said. "That's definitely his favorite sport and he transferred his love of the game and knowledge over to us. I'd say now it's more of a family-wide game. My mom is from California and our cousins are both playing Division I soccer right now at USC and Arizona. All of our cousins out there and our cousins back here play it so it's definitely a family sport."

Both Demetri and Spiro starred locally in high school at Rochester High School, with the pair also playing one season together in high school with Demetri on varsity as a freshman during Spiro's senior season. Demetri visited Detroit Mercy often for Spiro's games and his familiarity with Titan Field and campus helped bring him to Titan Territory as well.

"My parents and I would travel to his games, whether they were home or away from his freshman year until I got into college," Demetri said. "So Detroit Mercy was always a place that I really liked, being on campus for games, so as I got older and I started my recruiting process, it was a place that I was very interested in and I wanted to come to if I got the chance. Seeing all of those games over the years really helped me see what was so great about Detroit Mercy and ended up making me want to play soccer and go to school here."

Spiro, who worked for Plante Moran out of college and just recently took a job as a senior financial analyst with Lipari Foods in Warren, Michigan, enjoys giving back to the program -- as he was a graduate assistant coach for one season after his career -- and now occasionally helping out the program when he can back on campus.

"On top of playing together, he got to coach as well for a year and he's helping us out a bit now, so that's been a cool step seeing him in more of a coaching role," Demetri said. "It's another thing that we've had a chance to do, he's giving great advice and being a good role model and helping you try and grow too. It's been another cool experience to have at the school."

For Spiro, he's enjoyed watching his brother grow into a leader for the Titan men's soccer program as Demetri turns into a senior captain for the Titans in 2020-21.

"This year getting that captain label, it's been cool to see him telling the guys, 'hey guys we need to make sure we pick these things up,' or telling guys to get after it whether it's at practice or doing fitness or anything like that," Spiro said. "It's been cool to see him take those reigns. I'm not a part of it anymore, so it's letting him do his own thing. I've taught him as much as I can at this point, but it's good to see him take everything whether it's from me, my dad or mom and putting them into teaching."

And while the Pliakos brothers are very similar on the field, they have also noticed differences as well.

"He's definitely a different player than I was and both position-wise on the field to his strength and weaknesses compared to mine as well as from a personality perspective," Spiro said. "And that's where I've learned a lot from him. Definitely one of the things I have always tied to work on during my soccer career was to be more emotionally calm on the field have everybody respond to you and your emotion and character and that's what Demetri does really well and I have an appreciate for. He's a natural leader and knows how to remain calm on the field and keep everyone else calm. He has a calming presence, whether it's in the locker room or on the field. That's one thing that I've grown to appreciate watching him grow up."

Spiro remains reflective and proud of what his brother is now accomplishing after he has left the program, and Demetri, too, is proud to have followed his brother and played alongside him in college.

"We have always trained together and him being three years older, I was always trying to get to where he was," Demetri said. "He was always pushing me and I always tried to compete with him. I've always looked up to what he has done and tried to follow his process in club, the recruiting process and then college.

"He's someone that I've always looked up to."