DETROIT (2/15/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team hits the road for their third contest of the 2020-21 season, with the Titans heading to Ohio to play Cleveland State on Tuesday. The match is set for 1 p.m. ET in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Titans (1-1, 1-1 Horizon League) are playing their second road match of the campaign. Detroit Mercy opened the season with a 2-1 victory at Northern Kentucky during the opening week of the season. The red, white and blue are coming off a 3-2 overtime setback at home to Wright State last Wednesday.

The red, white and blue face Cleveland State (1-1, 1-1 Horizon League) for the 33rd time in men's soccer.

Last Time Out
The Titans scored two first-half goals in last Wednesday's home contest against the defending Horizon League champion Wright State indoors at home, but the red, white and blue fell in overtime to the Raiders in the 100th minute, 3-2. The Titans out-shot Wright State in the match, 16-14. Both teams had three corner kicks, while Detroit Mercy had five shots on goal in the match.

Freshman forward Samory Powder scored his first collegiate goal in the third minute of the match and senior forward Mohamad Miri collected his fourth career goal for the Titans midway through the first half to give Detroit Mercy a 2-1 lead. Miri's goal was assisted by senior Demetri Pliakos and Jake Poorman. The Raiders scored early in the second half and then the game-winning, golden goal in the 100th minute, 17 seconds before the first overtime frame was set to conclude. Powder led the team with four shots, while junior Kyle Bandyk and Pliakos each had three shots for the red, white and blue.

The Titans
Poorman leads the team early in the second with three points on one goal and one assist, scoring the game-winning goal at NKU in the season opener. The Titans had four goals through two matches with Bandyk, Miri and Powder also finding the back of the net in 2021. Bandyk, Pliakos and Powder all have five shots and two shots on net to lead the team in those categories. Goalkeeper Devin Mendez has played all 189 minutes in net for Detroit Mercy this season and has turned aside seven shots on net so far this season.

Detroit Mercy has 24 shots, while the opponents have fired 27 shots this season through two matches.

Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings are 1-1 this season, falling 2-1 in double overtime to Green Bay in their season opener, before earning a 2-0 road victory over Robert Morris last Wednesday. Cleveland State went 7-7-1 and 3-5 in Horizon League play last season and enter its second season under head coach Sinisa Ubiparipovic.

Cleveland State junior Jannis Schmidt leads the team with three points through two games with one goal and one assist. Sophomore Pablo Kawecki and freshman Bojan Kolevski both have goals for the Vikings this season with Kolevski scoring the game-winning in the victory over RMU last week. Kolevski leads the team with eight shots after two matches. Sophomore goalkeeper Omeed Naeemy has played all 199 minutes in net for the Vikings this season and has a 83.3 save percentage to go along with 10 saves and one shutout.

All-Time Series
The Titans and Cleveland State are meeting for the 33rd time in men's soccer, with Detroit Mercy holding a lead in the all-time series at 18-11-3. The Titans are 6-8-2 in games played in Cleveland against the Vikings, which includes a 1-0 win on the road last season on Nov. 8, 2019 in the regular-season finale for both teams. The red, white and blue are unbeaten against CSU in their last three meetings (2-0-1).

Milestone Watch
Goalkeeper Devin Mendez is nearing the top-10 in school history in total saves and has 133 career stops for the Titans. He is just three saves away from former teammate Robbie Beckwell, who is 10th in program history with 136 career saves. Mendez is also five saves back of former Titan Jason Wood (138 saves) for ninth in career saves.

Preseason Poll
The Titans were voted sixth in the 2020-21 Horizon League Men's Soccer Preseason Poll, receiving 72 points, just one back of fifth. The poll is voted on by the league's head coaches. Detroit Mercy, which finished third in 2019, was voted just one point behind Cleveland State (71 points). UIC, which received eight of the 11 first-place votes tied with Oakland for the top spot in the poll, which both programs earning 109 points. The defending HL champions Wright State earned 88 points, while Milwaukee was fourth with 79 tallies.

Up Next
The Titans play home early next week on Monday against Milwaukee from Titan Field, with a scheduled start time set for 1 p.m. ET.