DETROIT (3/31/2023) -- A new rivalry in the Great Lakes State will commence on Saturday as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team welcomes Division I newcomer Eastern Michigan to Titan Field.

The Mid-American Conference showdown is set for Noon and will feature live stats and a live broadcast on YouTube (weather pending).

Detroit Mercy is coming off a tough 13-8 setback at Central Michigan as it is now 1-6 on the season and 0-1 in the MAC, while Eastern Michigan is 1-7, with the game marking its first conference contest of the season. 

12 Titans have scored a goal on the year for the Titans, led by junior Cat Kopchia's 15 points and 11 goals. Senior Marina Butler has 14 points on six goals and a team-high eight assists and sophomore Leah Bodnar has 10 points and nine goals, with all nine goals in the last four contests. 

Sophomore Meredith Leavell has started all seven games in net and is second in the MAC and 10th in the nation with 10.67 saves per game and third in the league and 24th with a 48.1 save percentage, to go with a league-best 3.0 ground balls per game. 

Junior Sarah Meek still paces the team with 16 draw controls, while sophomore Maddy Camm leads the red, white and blue with seven caused turnovers to go with 13 draw controls and 13 GB's. 

As a team, the Titans lead the conference and are 45th in the nation with 8.33 caused turnovers per game and are third in the MAC and 37th in the country with 17.3 ground balls per game. 

After the game, the red, white and blue will stay home as they host Robert Morris next Saturday in a lacrosse doubleheader, with the men facing Lindenwood at Noon and the women's game set for 4:00 p.m. 

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
• Leavell has posted double-digit saves in five games this season, and in seven of her 18 career games, with her career-best 17 saves against Butler at home earlier in the year, tied for 10th in school history and the most since Lexie McCormick's 18 at Notre Dame in 2015. She stopped 15 shots at Central Michigan her last time out
• Butler has notched a goal in 17 of her last 28 games, with a season-high three at Youngstown State and had a career-best five assists at Akron, both last season
• Senior Annie Gilbert has now scored a goal in 15 of her last 21 games, with scores in back-to-back games and a career-high five goals against Akron last year, and a season-high three goals and an assist in the win at Xavier
• Bodnar, Gilbert and Kopchia have the only hat tricks on the year for the Titans as Kopchia had three goals and an assist at Butler, Gilbert had three goals and an assist at Xavier and Bodnar is coming off a career-best three markers at CMU
• Bodnar has posted multiple goals in four-straight games and five times in her career. She tallied a career-high five draw controls in the season opener versus Canisius and has 14 on the year, and that was after registering four all of last season. She also had two goals in both games against Butler and versus Lindenwood before her three-goal performance at CMU 
• Junior Kiah Nuessgen tied his career-high for the third time with two caused turnovers against Canisius and has 17 in his career with 38 ground balls
• 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 against Lindenwood, a goal and two assists at Butler and a goal and an assist at Central Michigan. 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
• Redshirt freshman Taylor Rocha has scored a goal in four games on the year, with her first collegiate marker against Canisius in the season opener, and has six goals and eight assists on the season
• Freshman Alyssa Jarvis has found the back of the net in four games on the year, with her season-high two at Xavier, where she also had her first collegiate goals
• Junior Abby Schillinger registered her first collegiate goal at Marquette, while freshman scored her first in the season opener against Canisius and freshman Ysa Pakowski at Xavier
• Sophomore Katie Bilello tied her career-high with four ground balls against Lindenwood
• Meek posted a career-high seven draw controls against Marquette and has 27 in her career, and had 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 48 goals, 23 assists and 71 points in her career, with five hat tricks, while her career high in goals is four, accomplished on three different occasions
• 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 5-27. 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 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