DETROIT (4/17/2024) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will honor its senior class and look to put itself in a position to qualify for the postseason as the Titans host Kent State on Sunday.

Game time is set for 1:00 p.m., at Titan Field, and will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Steven MacDonald on the call. A live stats feed will also be available. 

The Titans will honor 12 outstanding seniors after the game in Ella Brandt, Marina Butler, Charlotte Dale, Emma Donahue, Julia Fortino, Lena Kinczel, Cat Kopchia, Kristine Kropp, Sarah Meek, Kiah Nuessgen, Abby Schillinger and Cecelia Vergara.

Detroit Mercy and Kent State are still fighting for one of the final positions in the four-team MAC Championship. The Titans need a win and a little help - mainly Akron losing one of its final two games at Central Michigan or to Youngstown State - to earn a spot and can be as high as a three seed, while Kent State needs to win its final two games to secure a bid or record one win and some help itself.  

UDM has dropped three in a row and a couple in heartbreaking fashion as the red, white and blue fell to Eastern Michigan, 12-9, and at Akron, 11-10. 

Kent State is 5-10 overall and 2-2 in league play. The Golden Flashes have lost four of the last five games, including 11-10 against Robert Morris and 12-11 at Eastern Michigan, and is coming off a 20-5 loss at #20 Colorado.

VS. KENT STATE

• Kent State has won five straight in the series to take a 5-1 lead in the match-up.
• The last two meetings have been close 16-15 setbacks.
• UDM is 1-4 at home, with the lone triumph of 16-12 in 2019.

THE POSTSEASON PICTURE

• Detroit Mercy and Kent State are still fighting for one of the final positions in the four-team MAC Championship. The Titans need a win and a little help - mainly Akron losing one of its final two games at Central Michigan or to Youngstown State - to earn a spot and can be as high as a three seed, while Kent State needs to win its final two games to secure a bid or record one win and some help itself.  

TAKE IT AWAY

• Detroit Mercy has posted 109 caused turnovers on the year - two away from 10th in school history for a single season.
• UDM had a season-high 10 at Duquesne, at Pittsburgh, against Marquette, at Canisius, at Lindenwood, and against Kennesaw State.  
• In fact, the Titans saw Duquesne turn it over 24 times, Lindenwood 19 and KSU 19 times and Pittsburgh, Marquette and Xavier had 18.
• The Titans registered double-digit caused turnovers just four times last year. 
• Detroit Mercy leads the MAC and is 62nd in DI with 7.86 takeaways per game.

HIGH RANKS

• Detroit Mercy is currently second in the MAC and 53rd in the nation with 16.1 ground balls per game and fourth in the league and 54th in the country with a .430 save percentage.
• The Titans have also averaged 26.5 shots per game and 19.5 shots on goal per game, tops in the league in both stats, and are fourth in the conference in scoring defense allowing 13.6 goals per game and just 9.8 in MAC battles. 

YES I CAMM CAMM

• Junior Maddy Camm continues to shine on both sides of the field as she has added an offensive flare to her game.
• Camm tied her career high with three caused turnovers, pulled down five draws and had two assists at Akron. She tallied another two caused turnovers and scored a pair of goals against Eastern Michigan and recorded three caused turnovers against Arizona State.
• She now has a caused turnover in every game this season, including six straight and 10 games with two or more.
• Camm leads the MAC and is 18th in the nation with 2.00 per game.  
• She tallied four points on a career-tying three assists and a goal, along with her usual two caused turnovers, four draw controls, and three ground balls against Youngstown State.
• Camm recorded her second-straight hat trick with three goals and a career-high 11 draw controls, two caused turnovers and three ground balls in the win over Kennesaw State after three goals, a team-high three ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover at Central Michigan.
• Camm posted a career-best four points, a career-high three assists, five draw controls, two caused turnovers and a team-best three ground balls at Lindenwood.
• She has career highs in every statistical category with 31 points, 17 goals, 14 assists, 34 ground balls, 40 draw controls and 28 caused turnovers, with the 29 takeaways eighth in school history and two away from joining the top five.  
• She leads the team and is fourth in the MAC and 58th in the nation with 2.43 per game. She also leads the team with 14 assists, is second with 40 draw controls and 31 points and tied for third with 17 goals.  
• Camm has 51 caused turnovers, 69 draw controls, 71 ground balls with 29 goals and 26 assists in her career.

NINE LIVES

• Senior Cat Kopchia just tallied her 11th hat trick of the season and 19th of her career with three goals and an assist at Akron. She had a team-high four goals against Eastern Michigan the game before.  
• She tallied four goals and five points at Robert Morris to earn her second MAC Offensive Player of the Week award.
• Kopchia tied her career high with five goals against Youngstown State, posted three at Central Michigan and recorded five goals and a season-best six points at Lindenwood. 
• Kopchia is now seventh in school history with 138 points on 106 goals and 32 assists, seventh in school history in goals and ninth in assists. On the extra attacker, her 13 women-up goals are second in Titan record book, one away from the top spot. 
• She currently tops the team with 50 points - second in the MAC - and 45 goals - second in the league and 36th in the nation, career highs in both stats. 
• Kopchia had three goals at Xavier, five points on three goals and two assists with two ground balls, and two caused turnovers at Canisius and three goals against Marquette. She also recorded four goals in the season opener at New Hampshire en route to being named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week, the first Titan to take home that honor since Kaitlyn Wandelt was named the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week in 2020. 

OUR ALL-MAC IS BACK

• Junior Leah Bodnar has picked up the offense as the season has gone on, tallying a hat trick in four of the last six and five of the last eight games after finding the back of the net three times at Akron. 
• She now has eight games in her career with three or more goals.  
• She helped the Titans beat Robert Morris on the road with four markers. 
• Against Kennesaw State, she tied her career high with seven points on a career-tying five goals, a career-high four turnovers and picked up four ground balls and registered three markers against Youngstown State. 
• Bodnar got off to a quick start in the season opener at New Hampshire as she tallied a career-tying three-caused turnovers with three ground balls, two assists and a goal and tallied a season-high three goals and four points at Lindenwood. 
• She is currently second on the team with 
• 22 goals, third with 29 points, seven assists and 11 caused turnovers and fifth with 21 ground balls
• Last year, she was named All-MAC Second Team after finishing third on the squad with 19 goals and tied for fourth with 21 points. She also led the team with 33 draw controls, had 12 ground balls, and caused six turnovers. 

NOT IN MY NET

• Junior Meredith Leavell did all she could with nine saves and a career-high nine ground balls against Eastern Michigan, the most by a Titan since Allison McDonough's school-record 10 at Stetson in 2017. 
• She had 12 saves and allowed just nine goals in the win at Robert Morris, her 17th career double-digit save performance. 
• It was the third time this season and the fourth time in her career that she has allowed less than 10 goals. She posted 14 saves against Youngstown State, including six in the fourth period. 
• She made a season-high 15 saves against Marquette and registered 12 at Lindenwood.
• She is third in the MAC and 14th in DI with 132 saves, third in the league and 17th in the nation with 9.4 saves per game, third in the league and 50th in the country with a .433 save percentage and third in the MAC with a 13.6 goals against average.
• She was named the MAC's Defensive Player of the Week after a stellar season opener that saw her record 10 saves with two caused turnovers and a ground ball at New Hampshire and posted 14 at Xavier and 13 at Duquesne. 
• Leavell is currently fourth in school history with 332 saves, fourth with 8.51 saves per game, third at a .428 save percentage and fourth with a 14.12 goals-against average.
• Last year, she led the MAC and was ninth in the nation with 10.36 saves per game as well as led the conference and 18th in the country with 2.86 ground balls per game.
• Her 145 total stops and 10.36 saves per game were third in the Titan record book, while her 40 total GB's and 145 saves were the third most in the league. Leavell registered double-digit saves in eight games and tallied a career-best 17 saves against Butler at home. 

GIVE ME LIBERTY

• Sophomore Libby Cuckler has stepped up on offense after tallying a career-high three assists against Eastern Michigan. She tallied a career-high four points on two goals and two assists against Kennesaw State, and that was after three points on a career-tying two goals and an assist at Central Michigan.
• She recorded a goal and an assist at New Hampshire, two goals - both on the extra attacker - at Duquesne, and recorded a goal and an assist at Canisius.  
• She has 17 points on eight goals and nine helpers after accumulating just two goals and three points in 11 games last season. 

OFF THE HOOK

• Sophomore Angelina Hook has seen increased playing time this season and has posted nine ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• She just had a caused turnover and ground ball against Eastern Michigan. She tallied two ground balls and two takeaways at Pittsburgh and grabbed two ground balls against Kennesaw State and at Robert Morris.
• Last year, she played in four games and did not record a statistic. 

YOU RANG

• Graduate senior Marina Butler has scored a goal in eight games this season after notching two strikes at Robert Morris.
• She had a four-point effort with three assists and a goal against Youngstown State. She had a season-high four points on a goal and three assists against Kennesaw State and scored twice at Xavier.
• Butler had a goal with two caused turnovers and two GB's against Marquette and a goal with another two takeaways at Lindenwood. 
• She now has 95 points on 49 goals and 46 assists - fourth in school history - along with 44 ground balls, 24 caused turnovers and nine draw controls.
• Last year, she led the team with 17 assists, was third with 30 points and tied for fourth with 13 goals. 

A SCHILL OF A TIME

• Senior Abby Schillinger pulled down a career-best eight draw controls and scored a goal in the season opener at New Hampshire.
• She had a goal and an assist against Eastern Michigan and added four draws at Duquesne and two at Pittsburgh. 
• Schillinger is third on the team with 16 draw controls, after registering just 15 in her career coming into this season, and now has five goals and six points on the year after coming into the year with just two goals and two assists. 

REPRESENTING PUERTO RICO

• Senior Cecelia Vergara had her best collegiate game with a career-high three ground balls, a career best two assists as well as a draw control and caused turnover at Duquesne.
• She donned a uniform for a few days in November as she was a member of the Puerto Rico National Team at the Pan-American Lacrosse Association (PALA) Sixes Cup in Kingston, Jamaica.

CONGRATS JULIA

• Senior Julia Fortino recorded her first two collegiate goals in the season opener at New Hampshire and added a third at Pittsburgh.
• She had just one point on an assist as a freshman heading into the season.

  
OUR WASHINGTON TITAN

• Sophomore Alyssa Jarvis, the first Titan from the state of Washington, had a solid rookie campaign last year and has improved in all areas, especially in the draw as she leads the team with 59 and is fourth in the MAC and 78th in DI with 4.21 per game. 
• Jarvis had a team-high three draw controls with a goal at Robert Morris. She grabbed six with three goals and two GB's against Youngstown State.
• She had eight draws, two goals and four ground balls against Kennesaw State and that was after pulling down a career-best 11 at Central Michigan, the most by a Titan since Elise Harder had 11 against Kent State in 2022. 
• Prior to that, she recorded six draw controls with a goal and a ground ball at Lindenwood and back-to-back games with five draw controls at Xavier and at Canisius. 
• Jarvis has scored a goal in 12 games and is tied for third on the team with 17 goals and is fourth with 20 points to go with 22 ground balls, fourth on the squad. 
• She netted multi-goal games with two markers at New Hampshire and at Canisius, and picked up a career-best four GB's with a goal and caused turnover at Pitt. 
• She played in 14 games with 12 starts as a freshman and was sixth on the team with 10 goals and tied for sixth with 13 points. She was also fourth on the squad with 18 draw controls and had 12 ground balls and four caused turnovers. 
• She scored two goals on her first two collegiate shots at Xavier. Jarvis posted a season-best three goals with two draw controls and a ground ball against Robert Morris and pulled down a season-high five draw controls and had a goal and ground ball against Kent State.

ALL 3 BACK AT D

• The Titans' starting defensive unit will be led by a trio of returning starters from last season in graduate senior Kiah Nuessgen and juniors Katie Bilello and Sophie Davis.
• Nuessgen has been a starter since he stepped foot on campus, playing in 52 games with 50 starts, posting 28 caused turnovers and 58 ground balls, including a career-high 10 caused turnovers and 19 GB's last season. She is coming off a career-high four ground balls at Eastern Michigan. 
• Bilello as seen action in 42 games with 35 starts and has 23 caused turnovers and 43 ground balls. She just had a takeaway and three GB's versus Eastern Michigan and had a career-best three caused turnovers against Marquette. Last season, she registered 17 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls. 
• Davis has appeared in 34 games with 24 starts and tied her career best with a pair of takeaways at Central Michigan. She also had a caused turnover at Xavier, a caused turnover and a ground ball against the Golden Eagles and two GB's at Lindenwood. 

OUR PRESIDENT

• Senior Sarah Meek not only holds the distinction of being one of the captains, but she also serves as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
• Meek picked up a career-best seven ground balls with two caused turnovers and a draw control at Xavier, the most GB's by a Titan since 2019.
• She had five ground balls and three caused turnovers at Duquesne and matched that effort with three caused turnovers and two GB's at Pittsburgh and three more takeaways and GB's at Canisius. 
• She is third on the team with 23 ground balls as well as second on the team with 14 caused turnovers.
• A three-time member of the Athletic Director Honor Roll and a two-time member of the MAC All-Academic Team, Meek tied for the team lead with a career-high 27 draw controls and also posted a career-best 10 points, tying her career-high with seven goals and adding nine ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• She recorded a career-high seven draw controls with a ground ball at Marquette and scored a career-best two goals with two draw controls and a ground ball against Lindenwood. 
• In her career, she has 54 draw controls, 35 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers and 19 points on 14 goals and five assists.