DETROIT (3/11/2022) -- After four tough games to start the season, the University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will finally have a home game as the Titans host VMI on Saturday.

The game is set for a Noon start at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan. The WILL NOT BE STREAMED but will also feature live stats. 

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased by clicking here. It is recommended that fans purchase tickets in advance to expedite entry to the facility. Tickets will be available at the gate and payment is via major credit card, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, but no cash will be accepted.

Detroit Mercy is 0-4 on the season, but all four of those setbacks have been to power conferences, including three teams that are ranked in the top 15, two of them in the top 10. The Titans are coming off a 13-7 loss at Marquette of the BIG EAST.

Graduate senior Brett Erskine leads the team with six points on four goals and two assists, while junior Luke Majick and sophomore Will Edell each have four goals as well. 

Graduate senior Paul Manuszak is currently third in the Atlantic Sun and eighth in the nation with 2.25 caused turnovers per game and second in the ASUN and 35th in Division I with 5.75 ground balls per game, while redshirt freshman Jakob Hemme is currently second in the nation with 17.25 saves per game, trailing only Hampton's Paxtin Powell (18.5).

VMI is 2-3 on the season with wins over Hampton and Mount St. Mary's and losses to Lafayette and former MAAC-rivals Manhattan and St. Bonaventure. 

Following the game, the Titans will have a week off before traveling to High Point on Mar. 26. 

Game Nuggets

• The Titans are in their first season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference after spending 12 seasons in the MAAC from 2010-2021, with their first year as an independent in 2009
• The four-straight true road games to start the season were the most in a row since the Titans played five-straight in 2012, while the four road games to start the year was tied for the longest span in school history with the four in a row in 2011
• The Titans and VMI were conference rivals for four seasons in the MAAC from 2010-2013 as the red, white and blue lead the overall series, 4-1. The Titans are a perfect 3-0 at home in the match-up and all five games have been decided by five goals or less, including three by three goals. 

All-Time Results 
Mar. 27, 2010 @ Detroit, W, 11-8 
Mar. 19, 2011 @ Detroit, W, 13-9 
Apr. 28, 2012 @ Lexington, VA, L, 7-8
Mar. 23, 2013 @ Detroit, 11-6
Mar. 1, 2014 @ Lexington, VA, W, 8-6 

• The two-time MAAC LSM of the Year, graduate senior Paul Manuszak continues his play as one of the best in the country and move up in the school record book.
• He is third in the conference and eighth in the nation with 2.25 caused turnovers per game and second in the ASUN and 35th in Division I with 5.75 ground balls per game. 
• Manuszak's 179 career ground balls is third in school history, 38 in back of second place, and his 3.74 ground balls per game is third in school history.  
• He also has 48 caused turnovers for seventh in school history, four in back of sixth place.
• Redshirt freshman Jakob Hemme has had to deal with one of the toughest starts a goalie can be put through as the opening schedule has seen the Titans take on three ranked teams and four programs from power conferences.
• All he has done in his four starts is post double-digit saves in each one and is currently second in the nation with 17.25 saves per game, trailing only Hampton's Paxtin Powell (18.5).
• He tied a school record with 28 saves at Michigan - tops in the country at the moment - and has 69 total stops on the season.
• Brett Erskine has 116 career points for fourth in school history, 30 away from third place, while his 75 goals is fifth, one in back of former teammate Matthew Vangalen (2017-19) for fourth and four behind another former teammate Seth Mendell (2017-20). Erskine's 2.52 points per game in fourth in school history and his 1.68 goals per game is third
• Freshman Aidan Bishop has taken 11 shots with seven on net (.636 SOG%) in three games and tallied his first collegiate points on a goal and an assist at Michigan
• Junior Luke Majick had his first career hat trick with three goals in the season opener at Ohio State
• Sophomore Will Edell posted his first career hat trick last week with three goals at Marquette, which also tied his career-high in points.
• Junior Ryan Birney had two older brothers who played for the Titans and were All-MAAC players in Mike and Sean as well as an older sister who played on the women's team and was All-ASUN in Kylie
• The Titans have had a long history of family connections on the team in the Birney's, Masterson's, Case's and have another pair of brothers on this year's squad in junior Kyle Loken and freshman Caden Loken and senior Tyler Hart and freshman Billy Hart
• Another family connection is senior Zach Kennedy as his grandfather played basketball and football for the Titans, while his dad played basketball for the red, white and blue
• A leader of men on and off the field and a pioneer of the game helping it flourish in the state of Michigan, Chris Kolon is in his 14th season on the sidelines – and eighth as a head coach - for Detroit Mercy in 2022. His 14 seasons means that he has been with the program since its birth. On June 2, 2014, he was tabbed the program's interim head coach and then was named the permanent head coach on July 14. During his time with Detroit Mercy, The Titans have posted their first three winning seasons and led the team to a school-record in overall (9) and conference victories (5) in 2018. His teams were always at the top of the MAAC in academic accolades in both Academic All-League selections and honor roll recipients. He has also tutored five players that have gone on to get drafted in the MLL and NLL and 10 that have played in both professional lacrosse leagues and in 2019, he was named an assistant coach with the Atlas Lacrosse Club in the brand new Premier Lacrosse League. In his seven years as a head coach, Detroit Mercy made the MAAC Championships five times, reaching the title game in 2018. His first-ever win was a memorable one as Detroit Mercy upended Ohio State, 9-8, on March 7, 2015. The win was the first by the Titans over Ohio State - who were receiving votes in both the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the USILA Coaches Poll and would go on to play in the NCAA Tournament later that season.