DETROIT (2/29/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will make a short trip to Ohio as the Titans are set to face VMI on Saturday. 

Game time is set for Noon at Liberty Olentangy High School in Columbus, Ohio. There will be live stats available and possibly a live webcast. 

The Titans started the year with a 22-8 loss at Jesuit-rival Marquette as junior Aidan Bishop and sophomore Drew Kessenich each recorded two goals, while graduate senior Luke Majick had two assists and a goal. 

UDM led 3-2, but the Golden Eagles went on a run to put te game away.

VMI is 3-2 on the season with two straight wins over Hampton and St. Bonaventure. 

Next season, both of these teams will once again be conference rivals in the NEC. 

Following the game, the Titans will head to nationally-ranked Rutgers on Tuesday. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. VMI

• The Titans are 5-2 all-time against VMI, but have split the last two meetings, each winning at home.
• VMI was a conference rival in the MAAC from 2010-14. In 2022, the red, white, and blue posted its biggest comeback in school history, trailing 9-1 in the first, only to storm back for a 16-11 triumph at home.
• This is the first match-up between the two programs played at a neutral field. 

BORN AND RAISED IN MICHIGAN

• While the Titans recruit nationally - witnessed by 12 states plus Canada on their 46-man roster - there is no arguing that Detroit Mercy loves to keep players in its home state as 28 of its 46 players (60.8%) hail from the Great Lakes State.
• The next on the list is Wisconsin with four (4), California (3), Ohio (2), Colorado (1), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Nevada (1), North Carolina (1), Texas (1), Vermont (1) and along with one from Canada (1). 

ROAD WOES

• The Titans have played over half of their history on the road in 109 of 216 career contests.
• UDM is 30-122 all-time in true road games and has dropped 17 straight, with the last road win at Canisius, 13-5, in 2021.
• Detroit Mercy is 5-10 all-time in neutral site games. 

MAJICK EARNS PRESEASON HONOR

• Graduate senior Luke Majick started the year honored by his conference peers as he was named to the Preseason All-ASUN Team as a midfielder after a poll by the league's head coaches. 
• He started the year with a goal and two assists at Marquette, along with two ground balls and a caused turnover. 
• A team captain, he played in all 13 games with 11 starts last season and tied for the team-high with a career-best 31 points, ranking 18th in the ASUN with 2.38 points per game. He led the team with a career-best 11 assists and was third with a career-high 20 goals.
• He also tied for the team lead with three man-up goals and had 11 ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• During the year, he posted a career-high seven points on a career-best four goals with three assists at Mercer. He also had a few other hat tricks, coming up with three goals, three ground balls, and a caused turnover versus Robert Morris, two goals and a career-high four assists against Lindenwood, three markers at Air Force, and four goals with an assist and two ground balls at Cleveland State.

WEARING THE BIG "C"

• Detroit Mercy will have a trio of outstanding leadership this season as the Titans announced that graduate seniors Kyle Loken and Luke Majick as well as senior Noah Martin will have the honor of wearing the capital 'C' this year. 
• "These men have demonstrated to the team and the coaching staff how much they care about their fellow teammates and the program and continue to showcase what we have built this program on," said head coach Chris Kolon '09 (MBA). 
• Loken - just the fourth Titan to be named a team captain three times - has seen action in 37 games as a defensive midfielder and has recorded 20 caused turnovers and 67 ground balls to go with 10 goals and an assist. Last year, he tied for fourth on the team with a career-tying 24 ground balls and fifth with a career-high eight caused turnovers, while scoring two goals. 
• Majick returns as captain for the second straight year. The midfielder has played in 31 games as a Titan and has posted 40 goals and 27 assists and tied for the team-high with a career-high 31 points, led the team with a career-best 11 assists and was third with a career-best 20 goals last season. 
• Martin - a first-time captain - has been the anchor of the defense the last two years and has played in 32 games in his first three seasons, tallying 23 caused turnovers and 53 ground balls. Last season, he tied for the team lead with a career-best 13 caused turnovers and was second with a career-high 34 ground balls.

WE HAVE OUR DREW

• Sophomore Drew Kessenich scored two goals in the opener at Marquette.
• He had a fine freshman season, where he was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team.
• He played in all 13 games with 11 starts and tied for the team lead with 31 points and was second with 21 goals and 10 assists to go with 19 ground balls. He also topped the squad with five man-up goals, ranking fifth in the league and 43rd in the nation with the five power-play goals.
• He scored a goal in nine games, with multi-strikes in seven of them, including seven points on five goals and two assists against Lindenwood and back-to-back three-goal games at Ohio State and Mercer.  

NOLAN'S OUR MAN

• Junior Nolan Graalman started the season with a goal and Marquette after a sophomore season that saw him tally 23 points on the strength of 21 goals, including 15, fourth on the team.  
• He recorded a career-high three goals and three ground balls against Utah and tied his goal mark with three strikes at Cleveland State. 

THAT'S RIGHT I SAID OWEN

• Sophomore Eoghan Mullett- pronounced Owen - is back on defense after securing a starting spot early last year after transferring from Bryant. He led the team with 36 ground balls and tied for the team lead with 13 caused turnovers, ranking 10th in the ASUN with 3.0 ground balls per game and 11th with 1.08 caused turnovers per contest.
• He registered a caused turnover in 11 games, with two in three contests, and collected a ground ball in every game, with at least three on six occasions. An aggressive player, he also tied for the team lead with five penalties.
• Mullett finished with a season-best seven ground balls and had a caused turnover at Jacksonville. He had two caused turnovers and four ground balls against Marquette and a season-high two caused turnovers and five ground balls against Bellarmine. 

AT THE FACEOFF

• The Titans return two faceoff specialists from last season in junior Billy Hart and sophomore Logan Flaherty.
• Hart won 7-of-19 with three GB's at Marquette in the opener, while Flaherty and freshman Joey Nawrockiwere both 2-of-7, with Flaherty grabbing two GB's. 
• Hart has now won 108 career faceoffs and was at 41.0% last season, claiming 64-of-156 with 24 ground balls. He won a career-best 10-of-22 with four ground balls and scored his first goal on his first career shot at Jacksonville. He took 9-of-17 with a season-high five ground balls at Air Force and tied his career-high winning 10-of-19 with five GB's at Cleveland State.
• Flaherty tied for the team lead with 63 wins, picking up 15 ground balls, as a rookie. He tallied 9-of-15 with a caused turnover at Queens, was 8-of-17 at Air Force and won six faceoffs against Lindenwood, where he also notched his first goal. 

KING ME

• Junior Aidan Bishop started the season opener with two goals at Marquette.
• In his career, he has now played in 25 games with 23 starts and has 20 goals, six assists, 33 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. 

GUARDING THE NET

• Juniors Jakob Hemme and Ryan Richters are the top two goalies on the roster, a roster that has five netminders.
• Richters started at Marquette and made 11 saves playing all 60 minutes. 
• Hemme ranks fourth in school history with 271 saves and second with 12.9 saves per game. He saw action in 11 games with 10 starts last season and led the team with 137 saves - 10th in school history - and a .479 save percentage - sixth in the ASUN - and was third with 28 ground balls. He topped the conference and was 19th in the nation with 12.45 saves per game, fifth in school history, and was 18th in the ASUN with 2.55 ground balls per game.
• Hemme recorded double-digit saves in nine games, with a season-high 19 saves and a career-best seven ground balls versus Utah and tallied 14 saves, four ground balls and a career-best two caused turnovers at Jacksonville.
• In his career, he has played in 21 games and has double-digit saves in 18 of them, tying a school record with 28 at Michigan in 2022. 
• Meanwhile, Richters hails from California and played as a freshman at Grand Canyon and as a sophomore at Concordia University in California. Last season, he made 48 saves and posted a 62.3% save percentage, helping Concordia to a MCLA title. 
• He also played for Team Latvia at the 2023 World Lacrosse Championships and was nominated to the All-World Team. 

NEWBIES

• Freshman Sean Donahue notched his first career goal in the opener at Marquette, while freshman Lucas Goeller registered his first assist. 

I WILL TAKE A HENIGE

• Junior Sean Henige did not see any action as a freshman, but his practice paid off as he appeared in 13 games with 12 starts last year and was fourth on the team with 10 caused turnovers and also picked up 20 ground balls.
• He posted a season-high two caused turnovers and four ground balls at High Point, two caused turnovers and two GB's at Queens and four ground balls and two caused turnovers against Bellarmine. 
• In the opener, he had two ground balls at Marquette.