DETROIT (4/12/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team will finish its homestand with a late morning contest as the Titans entertain the Air Force Academy on Saturday.

Game time is set for 11:00 a.m., at Titan Field and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available.

Detroit Mercy is looking to stay in the race for a spot in the Atlantic Sun postseason as the Titans are 2-4 in league play. UDM is coming off a 21-9 setback against Jacksonville as sophomore Drew Kessenich tallied his second hat trick of the season, while junior Ryan Richters made 13 saves to move to eighth place in school history with 147 on the season.

Air Force started the season at 1-4 but has won five in a row - all in ASUN play - and is 6-4 overall and 5-0 in the conference. 

After the game, the Titans will have a week off before heading to Bellarmine next Saturday. 

ALL-TIME SERIES

• This is the ninth career meeting between Detroit Mercy and the Air Force Academy as the Falcons have owned the series winning all eight previous showdowns.

THE MAGIC MAN

• Graduate senior Luke Majick recorded his seventh career hat trick with three goals against VMI and is coming off a three-point effort with two goals and an assist against Jacksonville.
• He tied his season-high in back-to-back games with four points on two goals and two assists against Queens and at Lindenwood, and also had four points on two goals and two assists against Mercer. 
• He has scored a goal in nine of the 10 games this season and 30 of his 40 career games as a Titan. 
• He leads the team with 27 points, tied for first with 11 assists and is second with 16 goals. Majick is now eighth in school history in points (91) and ninth in goals (55).
• 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. 

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 46 games as a defensive midfielder and has recorded 25 caused turnovers and 77 ground balls to go with 10 goals and two assists. He had a pair of caused turnovers against Mercer and a takeaway and three GB's against Queens. 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, scoring two goals. 
• Majick returns as captain for the second straight year. The midfielder has played in 40 games as a Titan and has posted 55 goals and 36 assists.
• Martin - a first-time captain - has played in 41 games, tallying 32 caused turnovers and 64 ground balls. He had two caused turnovers against Jacksonville, two more and three GB's against Mercer and a takeaway and three ground balls against Queens.  
• Last season, he tied for the team lead with a career-best 13 caused turnovers and was second with a career-high 34 GB's.

WE HAVE OUR DREW

• Sophomore Drew Kessenich tallied his fifth career hat trick putting in three markers against Jacksonville. He had three goals and four points against Queens and added two more markers at Lindenwood. He recorded a season-high six points on a career-best five assists and a goal at Robert Morris. 
• The five assists were the most since Matthew Van Galen had five at Marist in 2019 and one shy of Van Galen's school-record six at Bellarmine, also in 2019, while the seven points were the most by a Titan since Luke Majick had seven on four goals and three assists last year at Mercer.  
• He had 10 assists last year and already has 11 this season, tied for the team lead and ninth in the league with 1.10 per game, to go with 14 goals. 
• He has registered a point in all 10 games and scored a goal in six straight games and eighth contests this season.
• Last year, he was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team after tying for the team lead with 31 points and finishing second with 21 goals. He also topped the squad with five man-up goals.

KING ME

• Junior Aidan Bishop recorded a career game with five points on three goals and two assists, along with four ground balls, and caused a turnover at Lindenwood. He also just had four GB's against Jacksonville.
• It was his second hat trick of the season and third in his career as he has now scored a goal in eight games, with seven featuring at least two markers.  
• He also had three goals at Robert Morris this year as well as three against the Colonials last season. 
• Bishop had two goals at Marquette and posted four points on two goals and two assists against VMI. He picked up four ground balls at Rutgers and raised his career best to five GB's with two goals and a caused turnover at Ohio State.  
• In his career, he has now played in 34 games with 32 starts and has 35 goals, 10 assists, 57 GB's and 11 caused turnovers. 

NEWBIES

• Freshman Sean Donahue notched his second career hat trick with three goals at Robert Morris and is coming off two goals and an assist against Jacksonville. His first career goal was in the opener at Marquette and he tallied his first hat trick with an assist at Ohio State. Freshman Lucas Goeller registered his first assist and point against the Golden Eagles and scored his first goal against Ohio State.
• Freshman Owen Miller scored his first goal against VMI and added another versus Queens and at Lindenwood, while rookie Sawyer Van Antwer picked up his first marker at Rutgers, scored another at Ohio State and at Utah, and found the back of the net against Queens and Jacksonville. 

NOLAN'S OUR MAN

• Junior Nolan Graalman registered a season-high two goals at Utah.
• He started the season with a goal in each of the first two games and scored another against Mercer.
• Last year he had 16 points on the strength of 15 goals, fourth on the team.  
• He recorded a career-high three goals against Utah and tied his goal mark with three strikes at Cleveland State. 

I WILL TAKE A HENIGE

• Junior Sean Henige tied his career mark with three caused turnovers at Utah.
• He leads the team with 12 caused turnovers, ninth in the ASUN and 72nd in DI with 1.20 per game, and is fourth on the team with 18 ground balls. 
• He had a career day with three caused turnovers and seven ground balls against VMI and tied his mark with three takeaways and two GB's at Ohio State.   
• In the opener, he had two ground balls at Marquette and just picked up three GB's with a takeaway at Robert Morris as he ranks seventh in the ASUN and 48th in DI with 1.4 caused turnovers per game. 

 
THAT'S RIGHT I SAID OWEN

• Sophomore Eoghan Mullett- pronounced Owen - had a career-high three caused turnovers versus Mercer and picked up three GB's at Lindenwood.  
• He had a caused turnover, three ground balls and scored his first goal at nationally-ranked Rutgers, and added a caused turnover and three GB's at Ohio State. 
• He is now fifth on the squad with 17 ground balls. 
• He led the team with 36 ground balls and tied for the team lead with 13 caused turnovers last year.

AT THE FACEOFF

• The Titans have seen two primary faceoff specialists in junior Billy Hart and rookie Joey Nawrocki. 
• Hart won 11-of-25 with a career-tying seven ground balls against Jacksonville and posted a career-best 14-of-22 effort with seven ground balls against Lindenwood. He won 7-of-18 with four ground balls at Utah and claimed seven battles with three GB's at Marquette in the opener and six wins with four GB's at OSU. 
• Hart has now won 148 career faceoffs. 
• Nawrocki tallied 7-of-16 against Queens. He won 7-of-20 against VMI, 9-of-18 at #16/14 Rutgers and recorded seven wins with four ground balls versus Mercer.  

GUARDING THE NET

• Juniors Jakob Hemme and Ryan Richters are the top two goalies on the roster that features five netminders.
• Richters had back-to-back games allowing less than 10 goals and as he made 16 saves in a 12-8 road win at Lindenwood and allowed a season-low seven goals with 12 saves in a 12-7 win over Queens. He tied his season-high with 19 saves at Utah after 17 at Robert Morris, including six in the fourth period.
• He now has double-digit saves in all 10 games following his original season-high 19 and six ground balls with a caused turnover against Mercer.
• He leads the ASUN and is third in the nation with 14.7 saves per game. His 147 saves on the year are eighth in school history.
• 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. 
• 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 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.

 
EVAN DOING A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING

• Junior Evan DeVito has showcased an all-around game this year as a LSM and defenseman.
• He has four caused turnovers, 16 ground balls, and has scored his first two career goals, while winning seven faceoffs.
• He scored his first goal against VMI and picked up a career-best four GB's with a takeaway and a goal against Mercer.  

A WILL TO WIN

• Junior Will Marshall had three ground balls and Lindenwood and a career-high three caused turnovers with a season-tying high three ground balls with a goal against Queens. 
• Earlier in the season, he had two takeaways and three GB's at Rutgers and he scored a goal at Utah.  

CHASING YOU DOWN

• Junior Chase Mahabir has registered a point in eight of the last nine games. He had three points on a goal and two assists against Queens, recorded a career-best four markers at Robert Morris and notched his first hat trick with three goals against Mercer.
• He came into the season with just four career goals but has 12 on the year, tied for fourth on the team.  

GIVE ME A GRANT

• Sophomore Kyle Grant tied his career-high with two caused turnovers at Ohio State and picked up a career-best four ground balls against Mercer. 
• He added three ground balls at Utah and two last week at Lindenwood and is tied for fourth on the team with 15 ground balls.  
• He is tied for sixth on the team with 16 ground balls. As a freshman, he played in all 11 games and caused six turnovers, including a pair at VMI and Queens. 

HAVE YOURSELF A GAME SNIDER

• Sophomore Zach Snider had not scored in his first five games, but he got the start at Lindenwood and delivered a career-high four points on a career-tying two goals and a career-best two assists.
• He came back with a goal and an assist against Jacksonville. 
• Last year, he saw action in five games and recorded six points on four goals and two assists. He began his collegiate career with two goals in the season opener at VMI and had a goal and an assist at Jacksonville.