DETROIT (9/28/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team plays its first home match of the 2021 season on Wednesday, Sept. 29, from Titan Field against the Green Bay Phoenix.
The game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+.
The Titans come into the contest at 2-3-2, 1-1-0 in the Horizon League after a 2-0 road victory at IUPUI their last time out.
Green Bay is 1-5-2 overall and 0-2-0 in the HL as the Phoenix has lost at home to Cleveland State (4-1) and on the road at Wright State (3-1).
The match is the start of a two-game home stretch on Homecoming week as the red, white and blue host Metro Series-rival Oakland on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Titans return to their home pitch following a 2-0 win against IUPUI on Saturday, Sept. 25.
In that contest, sophomore forward
Samory Powder would put the Titans up 1-0 with his first goal of the year 20 minutes into the match. Senior midfielder
Demetri Pliakos would be credited with the assist.
Detroit Mercy would add to their lead 10 minutes into the second half on the second goal of the season by Pliakos, giving him three points for the game. Senior defender
Kyle Bandyk earned his first assist on the year setting up the Pliakos tally.
Redshirt-freshman
Jonathan Kliewer made three saves, earning a clean sheet on the afternoon.
All-Time Series
Detroit Mercy leads the all-time against Green Bay at 13-11-7 with a 7-4-2 record at Titan Field. The Phoenix has had the best of the Titans recently as Detroit Mercy is 3-10-4 in the last 17 meetings dating back to 2006, although they did take a 2-0 decision in the last meeting in 2019 on the road at Green Bay. The last home meeting was a 2-2 tie in 2018.
Titans Among Horizon League's Best
Detroit Mercy has several players in the top-10 of the league in a number of categories.
Samory Powder currently ranks fifth in the league in shots with 15, while
Demetri Pliakos ranks eighth in assists with two and ninth in points with six.
Finally,
Jonathan Kliewer ranks highly in several Horizon League goalkeeping statistics. He sits third in goals-against average (1.055), fifth in save percentage (.755), fifth in shutouts (2), and seventh in saves per game (3.43).
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 mid-week matchup with the Phoenix, the red, white, and blue will play their second consecutive home match Saturday, Oct. 2, against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Homecoming Weekend at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
