DETROIT (4/13/2022) -- Three key games to reach the playoff start this weekend as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will be at home for two of those contests, starting with a visit from Youngstown State on Saturday.

The game is set for 1:00 p.m. at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan and will be broadcast live on the Titans Sports Network on YouTube and will have live stats.

Tickets to the contest are $5 and can be purchased here. Tickets can only be purchased electronically as no cash will be accepted. 

Detroit Mercy is 1-11 on the season and 1-6 in the MAC, but the fight for one of the final two playoff spots is still on the line as Youngstown State has four conference wins and sits third in the standings, while Kent State has two wins and is currently in fourth place.

The Titans are coming off an 18-9 setback at Central Michigan last Saturday. Sophomore Cat Kopchia led the offense with three goals, while senior Taylor Cantelon had a goal and a team-high eight draw controls. 

Youngstown State is 6-7 overall and 4-2 on the year as the Penguins nipped the Titans in overtime, 12-11, at YSU. a few weeks ago.

After the game, the Titans will be on the road next Saturday at Akron before finishing the regular season against Kent State on April 30. 

Game Nuggets:

• The Titans trail the all-time series, 2-1, as they split last year with the red, white and blue getting a 24-12 road victory 
• The Titans are third second in the league and 40th in the nation with 14.92 draw controls per game 
• Kopchia notched a point in 10 of the 12 games with a goal in nine of them as her 1.17 assists are third in the league
• She had a career-high seven points as she tallied six assists, tied for third in school history, in the comeback victory over Akron
• Senior Elise Harder now has 141 draw controls, two away from fifth place and Zaynib Hamze, while her 2.52 draw controls per game are third in school history
• Harder has registered a point and a goal in 10 of the 12 games and posted back-to-back hat tricks with four goals and five points against St. Bonaventure and three goals at Kent State and now has 82 goals and 10 assists for 92 points in her career
• Harder set the school record with 19 draw controls against St. Bonaventure, tied for the third-most in DI, as that figure helped the Titans collect a school-best 32 in the game, tops in the nation at the moment
• Cantelon has grabbed at least six draw controls in six games on the year, with her season-high of 10 at Youngstown State and eight at Central Michigan
• Her 136 career draw controls are seventh in school history, while her 3.89 draw controls per game are second in the school record book
• Cantelon is third in the league and 45th in DI with 5.08 draw controls per contest, while Harder is fifth in the MAC and 59th in the nation with 4.75 draw controls per game
• Junior Marina Butler has notched a goal in seven of the 10 games this season with a season-high three at Youngstown State
• Senior Taryn McManus is eighth in the league with 1.08 caused turnovers per game and leads the team with 16 ground balls
• She has 47 career caused turnovers, 10th in school history and two outside of ninth place, and has registered a caused turnover in eight games on the year
• Redshirt sophomore Charlotte Dale had back-to-back hat tricks with a career-high six points on three goals and three assists against Akron and three goals with two helpers versus St. Bonaventure as she has recorded a point in nine games and scored a goal in seven of the 11 she has played 
• Junior Annie Gilbert tallied a career-high five goals against Akron and has scored a goal in 10 of the 12 games
• Sophomore Kaileigh Nuessgen is fifth on the team with 11 ground balls with a season-high of three GB's and two caused turnovers at Kent State
• Senior Claire Conway has played in 57 career games with 54 starts and has totaled 49 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers
• Senior Emily Beazley is currently a member of the U23 England National Team
• Freshman Meredith Leavell's 46 saves are sixth in the conference 
• Dwayne Hicks is officially in his second year as head coach of the Titans after taking over as an interim coach in 2020 before it was canceled due to the pandemic (but was not assessed any wins or losses that season) as his record stands at 3-19. His first career win was a double-overtime thriller, 15-14, in 2021, while his second was a record-breaking 24-12 contest at Youngstown State as the Titans netted a school-record 24 markers. Hicks is a familiar face within the Titan Athletic Department, having spent the prior three seasons as an assistant coach on the men's lacrosse staff. He joined the men's lacrosse program in the fall of 2017 and in both of his full campaigns with the team, he helped coach back-to-back winning campaigns with a school-record nine wins in 2018 and a trip to the MAAC Championship game and another eight wins in 2019 and another bid to the postseason. Hicks brings more than 45 years of lacrosse in his background as a player and coach and has been one of the most instrumental individuals in helping spread the game in the state of Michigan. He spent 15 years as the Director of Lacrosse at the Total Sports Complex in Wixom, Michigan. He was also the head coach and director of the Total Lacrosse's Train and Play program and Team Total Lacrosse travel team. Hicks coached the Oakland University women's lacrosse program in four seasons, as the team qualified for four national championships, placing as high as third and winning three regional championships. Hicks has been recognized as Coach of the Year on five occasions. He has also been selected National Coach of the Year twice, once as head coach of the men's team at Michigan State and the other as the assistant coach of the Oakland women's team. During his five years with the Oakland men's team, Hicks was able to develop an unknown program into a nationally ranked, highly touted lacrosse team, which included two national championship appearances and one Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) title. In 2006, Hicks moved from Oakland to Eastern Michigan to help build their program. After three seasons with the Eagles and helping them become a CCLA playoff contender, he moved to Michigan State, where he guided the Spartans to four CCLA playoff appearances, one championship and two runner-up efforts. After his collegiate playing career at Notre Dame, Hicks played/coached professionally in the English Lacrosse Union in Manchester England. Originally from Long Island, New York, Hicks was a standout lacrosse player and wrestler at Freeport High School