DETROIT (10/12/21) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team travels to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a mid-week Horizon League match-up with the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on Wednesday, Oct. 13.
The game is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
The Titans (2-4-4, 1-2-2 HL) enter the match 1-1-2 in their last four games, including a pair of ties against Green Bay and Oakland and a win over IUPUI.
The Mastodons enter Wednesday's match 3-7-1 overall and 1-4-0 in Horizon League play. Purdue Fort Wayne holds a 1-3-0 mark at home in 2021 and has lost three straight matches, all coming against league opponents.
Last Time Out
The last time the Titans took the pitch, they were in Highland Heights, Kentucky squaring off with Northern Kentucky. The Titans and the Norse would battle late into the first overtime period before Northern Kentucky netted the game-winner.
In the match, Detroit Mercy took 12 shots – including eight in the second half - and put three shots on goal. Sophomore forward
Samory Powder led the team with four shots, while redshirt-senior midfielder
Demetri Pliakos had three and had two of the Titans' three shots on goal.
Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper
Jonathan Kliewer made six saves on the night, his third-highest total in a game this season, and came a week after posting a career-high eight saves against Oakland.
All-Time Series
Detroit Mercy holds a steady lead in the all-time series with Purdue Fort Wayne, 12-4-4, including a 7-3-1 mark on the road.
In the last 10 meetings of the two teams, the Titans are 5-3-2 against the Mastodons, including 4-2 on the road. The last time the Titans and Mastodons met was in March, with Detroit Mercy falling 4-2 on the road.
Titans Among Horizon League's Best
Detroit Mercy has several players in the top-10 of the league in a number of categories.
Following his multi-goal performance in the Metro Series, redshirt-senior
Kyle Bandyk ranks 10thin the league in goals with three.
Sophomore
Samory Powder sits sixth in the league in shots with 24.
Redshirt-Seniors
Daniel Iyok and
Demetri Pliakos rank eighth and ninth respectively in assists with three each.
Finally, redshirt-freshman
Jonathan Kliewer ranks highly in several Horizon League goalkeeping statistics. He ranks first in goals-against average (1.078), first in save percentage (.769), third in saves per game (4.00), and fifth in shutouts (2).
Pliakos Points
Senior
Demetri Pliakos leads the team with six points on two goals and two assists, the leader in goals and assists as well.
He had a goal and an assist in the 2-0 road win at IUPUI and also found the back of the net at Michigan in a 1-1 draw.
In his career, he now has 18 points on six goals and six assists.
A Pliakos has been scoring at Detroit Mercy since 2014 as his older brother, Spiro, had a great career earning All-Horizon League accolades in all four seasons (First Team twice) and was the 2014 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, ending his career with 53 points on 18 goals and 17 assists in 62 career games.
Next Up
Following the match with Purdue Fort Wayne, the red, white, and blue will return home to Titan Field Saturday, Oct. 16 for a 7:00 p.m. game with Milwaukee.
