DETROIT (3/23/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will have one more non-conference game on the docket before MAC play begins as the Titans head to Butler on Saturday.

Game time is set for 3:00 p.m., at Varsity Field and will be streamed live on FLO Sports and will feature live stats.

Butler came to Titan Field a couple of weeks ago and earned a 12-10 decision over the red, white and blue.

The Titans are 1-4 on the season as they fell at home to Lindenwood last Friday, 15-9.

Senior Annie Gilbert leads the team with nine points on four goals and a team-high five assists, while junior Cat Kopchia and redshirt freshman Taylor Rocha have a team-best six goals and eight points. Sophomore Meredith Leavell has started all five games in net and leads the MAC and is seventh in the nation with 11.00 saves per game, 13th in DI with 3.20 ground balls per contest and 20th in save percentage at 48.7%.

Butler is 2-4 on the year and is coming off a 17-3 loss at Cincinnati and a 10-9 triple-overtime setback against Winthrop. 

After the game, the Titans will start conference play at state-rival Central Michigan on Wednesday, March 29.

Game Nuggets:

• The Titans are in their third year in the MAC after spending time in the Southern Conference (2018-20), Atlantic Sun (2013-17) and the National Lacrosse Conference (2010-12), earning a share of the Southern Conference regular season title in 2018 and 2019 and advancing to four-straight ASUN championships from 2013-16
• Detroit Mercy's roster consists of student-athletes from 15 states as well as Canada
• Detroit Mercy has 18 upperclassmen on its 31-women roster and returns 25 letter winners from last season, including eight starters, five of its top six-point scorers and three of its top six defenders
• Detroit Mercy was a IWLCA All-Academic Team last year after posting a 3.46 team GPA, marking the 12th time in school history that the program earned the accolade, and recorded a 3.49 in the first semester
• Detroit Mercy is 3-3 all-time against the Bulldogs and 1-2 on the road
• The Titans are 4-11 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST, with a win at Xavier on the road this season
• Leavell has posted double-digit saves in four games this season, and in six of her 16 career games, with her career-best the 17 saves against Butler in the first match-up, tied for 10th in school history and the most since Lexie McCormick's 18 at Notre Dame in 2015
• Senior Marina Butler has notched a goal in 16 of her last 26 games, with a season-high three at Youngstown State and had a career-best five assists at Akron, both last season
• Gilbert has now scored a goal in 13 of her last 19 games, with a career-high five goals against Akron last year, and had three goals and an assist in the win at Xavier, the only Titan hat trick on the year so far
• Rocha has notched a goal in four games this season
• Junior Kiah Nuessgen tied his career-high for the third time with two caused turnovers against Canisius and has 16 in his career
• Sophomore Leah Bodnar tallied a career-high five draw controls in the season opener versus Canisius, and that was after registering four all of last season. She tied her career high for the third time with two goals against Lindenwood, something she also did against Butler this year and versus Youngstown State last season
• Redshirt junior Charlotte Dale is coming off an injury that limited her in the first couple of games, but had two goals and an assist last week. She has four hat tricks in her career, with a career-best six points on three goals and three assists against Akron and a career-high four goals versus Kent State, both last season
• Sophomore Katie Bilello tied her career-high with four ground balls last week against Lindenwood
• Junior Sarah Meek posted a career-high seven draw controls against Marquette and has 26 in her career, and is coming off a career-high two goals against Lindenwood
• Kopchia led the team with 39 points and 16 assists and was second with 23 goals last season. She has 43 goals, 21 assists and 63 points in her career
• Graduate senior Jess Turner's older brother Matt Turner played on the Titans' men's lacrosse team from 2017-21. She has twice tied her career-high with two caused turnovers at Xavier and at Marquette and tied her career-high with four ground balls against Butler
• Senior Caitlin O'Brien recorded a career-high four GB's at Xavier 
• Dwayne Hicks is officially in his third 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 5-25. 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