DETROIT (3/5/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse program opens the 2021 season on Sunday afternoon, taking on a familiar foe in Central Michigan but in a new conference with the Titans competing in their first-ever Mid-American Conference contest. The game is set for a 4 p.m. start on Sunday in Mount Pleasant.

Fans may watch the contest live via the Chippewas All-Access channel.

The Titans are playing in their first game in nearly a year after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 women's lacrosse season following the Titans' home game against Marquette on March 11. The red, white and blue are set to play in 10 games in 2021, playing the five MAC opponents two times each, once at home and once on the road.

Season Preview
Detroit Mercy is entering its 13th season as a Division I program and first full season under head coach Dwayne Hicks, who was the interim head coach for the latter part of the 2020 season. The Titans bring back the majority of their roster from a season ago, including nine starters, while also welcoming a freshmen class of 11 student-athletes to the field this season.

The Titans bring back five of their top six scorers from a season ago, when Detroit Mercy played in eight non-league contests prior to the season being shut down due to Covid-19. Senior attacker and co-captain Kamryn Corraro returns having scored goals in seven of eight games in 2020, ranking second on the team with 14 goals and 16 points. She put 29 of 31 shots on goal last season and in her career, she has 55 goals and 66 points. Senior attacker Kristina Ellis also returns after ranking third on the team in 2020 with 13 points on eight goals and five assists.

Junior midfielder Elise Harder was third on the team last season with 10 goals, while also leading the squad with 27 draw controls in eight games. She started all eight games last season and ranked third in the Southern Conference in draw controls per game (3.4). Junior midfielder Taryn McManus was fifth on the team with 10 points in her sophomore campaign, while also tying-for-second on the team with 12 ground balls last season. Sophomore attacker Marina Butler tied for the team-lead with five assists, while ranking sixth on the team with seven points in her freshman year, and senior midfielder Taylor Cantelon was a force in the draw circle for the Titans last year, totaling 23 draw controls, including three or more in five contests.

On defense, both goalkeepers that saw time in net in 2020 are back in senior Maddie Johnson and sophomore Hannah Shrader. The pair nearly split time down the middle last season in goal. Shrader made 44 saves for the Titans, including a season-high 15 against Marquette, while Johnson made 34 saves, starting six of the eight contests and making a season-best 13 stops in a win over Winthrop.

Senior defender and co-captain Sarah Lucas along with junior defender Claire Conway are among the key returners on defense for the Titans in front of Johnson and Shrader. Lucas had three caused turnovers in five games last season and has 32 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers in her career. Conway started all eight games for Detroit Mercy last season and tied-for-second on the squad last year with 12 ground balls. Sophomore defender Kate Schmidt ranked fourth on the team with five caused turnovers last season and classmate Heather Keery played in all eight contests in 2020 for the Titans on defense.

In all, 17 letter-winners return for Detroit Mercy for the 2021 season.

First Season of Lacrosse #MACtion
It's the first season of women's lacrosse in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), with three members full members of the conference (Akron, Central Michigan and Kent State). The Titans, Robert Morris and Youngstown State are all affiliate members for MAC women's lacrosse and full members of the Horizon League in most sports. Eastern Michigan has announced women's lacrosse and will eventually be the seventh member of the league, starting play in 2021-22.

There will be no postseason conference tournament in 2021 following the conclusion of the 10-game league schedule. The regular-season champion receives the MAC's bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

The Titans open the season with their closest road game, just a short drive north to Mount Pleasant and Central Michigan. Detroit Mercy then plays four of the next five at home, starting by welcoming newcomer Youngstown State (Saturday, March 13) and Robert Morris (Saturday, March 20) to Titan Field in two-straight weekends. After a road game at Akron on Saturday, March 27, the Titans host Kent State at home on Saturday, April 3, and then are slated to play CMU in their first home night game in program history on Saturday, April 10.

The Titans finish the 10-game schedule with three of four on the road, playing at YSU on April 17 to open the stretch. Following a home finale with Akron on April 24, the Titans hit the road for the final two weeks of the regular season against Kent State (May 1) and Robert Morris (May 8).

Scouting Central Michigan
The Chippewas are 2-2 following a 15-4 road setback at Marquette on Friday. It was CMU's second matchup this season with the Golden Eagles after the Chippewas defeated MU earlier this season at home, 11-10. Central Michigan was playing its second game of the week after picking up a 12-11 overtime win at home over Oregon. CMU's other loss in 2021 was a 16-10 road setback at Vanderbilt on Feb. 24.

Senior attacker Natalie Karlen leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 13 points and was named the inaugural MAC Offensive Player of the Week this past week. She has a team-high 32 shots through four contests. Sophomore midfielder Audrey Whiteside has added eight goals and nine points, while five other players have added at least three goals for CMU on the season.

Defensively, senior defender Brianna Hart was named the MAC co-Defensive Player of the Week following CMU's 1-1 week. Hart is second on the team in ground balls (13) and tied for first in caused turnovers with five. In net, sophomore GK Sierra Savage has 39 saves through four contests for the Chippewas.

All-Time Series
The Titans and Central Michigan have been joined at the hip since the Chippewas introduced Division I lacrosse. It's the fifth meeting between the two in-state foes since CMU began its first season of lacrosse in 2016. The Chippewas joined the Titans as members of the ASUN and then both programs joined the Southern Conference as affiliate members before entering MAC women's lacrosse in 2021.

Detroit Mercy is 4-0 all-time against the Chippewas, winning two meetings in Detroit and the other two on the road in Mount Pleasant. The two schools didn't play in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, however, the previous meeting in 2019 was a 10-9 win for the Titans in Mount Pleasant on April 27, 2019. Three of the four previous meetings have been decided by five goals or less.

Preseason Poll
The Titans, the second eldest lacrosse member of the new MAC women's lacrosse conference, was picked to finish fifth in the 2021 MAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll. The Titans received 13 votes in the poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches. Central Michigan received four of the six first-place tallies and was picked to finish first with 33 points, edging Robert Morris (32 points), who picked up the other two first-place votes.

Kent State (24 points) and Akron (16 points) followed in third and fourth, respectively, while women's lacrosse newcomer Youngstown State (eight points) rounded out the poll in sixth.

Up Next
The Titans have two-straight home games following this weekend's opener, hosting women's lacrosse newcomer Youngstown State to campus on Saturday, March 13 for a 12 p.m. contest in a doubleheader with the Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse squad. Detroit Mercy hosts Robert Morris the following Saturday from Titan Field at 3 p.m. ET. Both games are slated to be streamed on ESPN-Plus.