DETROIT (9-4-24) – The Detroit Mercy women's soccer team continues their five-game home stand with a pair of matches beginning with Chicago State on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. followed by a Senior Day showdown against Western Michigan on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live from Titan Field on ESPN+ the new voice of UDM soccer Matt Kibby on the call.
 
Scouting the Cougars:
Chicago is 0-3 on the season after setbacks to UIC (2-0), Valparaiso (3-1), and SIUE (6-1). Last season the Cougars 4-12 and fell 4-2 at UDM.
 
CSU Rewind:
Sept. 8, 2023 – Detroit Mercy 4 at Chicago State 2:
Graduate Student Hailey Matthews scored her first career goal in a Titans uniform off a corner kick and added an assist as Detroit Mercy recorded their first win of the season as they rolled past over Chicago State 4-2 on Friday night.
 
Sophomores Abbey Lodato and Soraya Puerto-Khalil scored their first goals of the season while junior Ashley Bates added her second goal. Senior Gabby Ketola and junior Adriana Mroz each added an assist.
 
A Look at WMU:
Western Michigan is 2-1-2 to start the season after a 3-0 win over Northern Kentucky, 1-1 draw vs No. 24 Iowa, 3-0 win against Marquette followed by a 3-0 loss at Creighton and 1-1 draw at Wisconsin. Last season, the Broncos went 12-4-3 overall and undefeated at 8-0-3 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play before being upset 2-1 by Kent State in the MAC Tournament semifinals.
 
Return of the MAC:
Sunday's tilt vs WMU is the third and final game against teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Titans fell at BGSU (8/15) in the season opener and at Toledo (8/30). Additionally, the Titans played exhibition matches against Central Michigan (8/8) and Eastern Michigan (8/11).
 
Senior Day Salute:
Prior to the match against WMU, the Detroit Mercy women's soccer team will honor their 10 seniors in Samantha Ceballos, Mikayla Duncan, Tia Jokic, Hailey Matthews, Adriana Mroz, Danica Paesano, Marisa Silver, Justice Tillotson, Erica Toupin, and Olivia Zulewski for their hard work and dedication to the program.
 
Last Time Out: Titans Earn First Win of the Season
Sept. 2 – Detroit Mercy 2 vs Madonna 0:
Graduate student Erica Toupin scored both goals while senior goalkeeper Chantelle Symes earned her first career shutout in a Titan uniform as Detroit Mercy earned a 2-0 victory over Madonna on Labor Day Monday afternoon at Titan Field.
 
The game was scoreless until Toupin put the Titans ahead 1-0 in the 44th minute. She then added an insurance tally late in the second half in the 84th minute to secure UDM's first win of the season.
 
On the Board:
• Graduate student Erica Toupin posted both goals in the UDM's 2-0 shutout win over Madonna (9/2) giving the Titans their first win of the season
• Redshirt Senior Justice Tillotson scored her first goal in a Titans' uniform UDM's 3-1 setback at Bowling Green (8/15)
• Graduate student Hailey Matthews added her first assist of the season on Tillotson's goal. She ranked third on the team in assists from her defensive position last season.
• Junior Abbey Lodato added her first goal of the season off a penalty kick against Utah Valley.
 
Freshman Firsts:
• Amelia Streberger recorded her career goal against Utah Valley (8/18).
 
Got the Call:
• Senior transfer Chantelle Symes earned her first career shutout in a Titan uniform over Madonna (9/2)
• Symes made her first career start in a Titan uniform between the pipes against Utah Valley (8/18) making four saves while holding the Wildcats scoreless in the first half.
 
Welcome Back:
• Graduate Student Marisa Silver battled back from injury to make her first start in goal against BGSU (8/15) since the 2022 season. Her last start was at FGSU on Aug. 18, 2022, where she suffered a season-ending injury. Last season she only saw action in one game against PFW (10/8).
• She faced 30 shots making nine saves against Utah Valley just missing her career-high of 11.
 
Night and Day:
Over the first five games of the season, Detroit Mercy allowed only two total goals in the first half. Conversely, the Titans have allowed nine goals in second-half action.
 
Season Rewind:
Aug.25 – Detroit Mercy 0 at Morehead State 1:
Senior Adriana Mroz, junior Soraya Puerto-Khalil, and graduate student Hailey Matthews each recorded a shot on frame as Detroit Mercy played Morehead State even for the first half but it was not enough as the Titans surrendered a goal to open the second half falling 1-0 to the Eagles on Sunday afternoon.
 
Junior Abbey Lodato and freshman Amelia Streberger also added two shots each to round out nine total for UDM (0-4). Graduate student Marisa Silver got the start in goal making three saves.
 
Aug.22 – Detroit Mercy 0 at Kentucky 2:
Senior Chantelle Symes faced 30 shots making five saves in goal as Detroit Mercy suffered a 2-0 setback at Kentucky on Thursday night at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
 
The Wildcats (3-0-0) were on the attack all night, holding the Titans (0-3-0) to just one shot on goal by graduate student Joyelle Washington. After a scoreless first half, Kentucky scored the first goal of the match in the 51st minute before adding an insurance tally in the 82nd minute.
 
Aug.18 – Detroit Mercy 2 vs. Utah Valley 5:
Freshman Amelia Streberger scored her first career goal while junior Abbey Lodato converted a penalty kick but it was not enough as Detroit Mercy fell 5-2 in home opening action on Sunday night at Titan Field.
 
UDM (0-2-0) jumped in front, 1-0, just two minutes into the action as Soraya Puerto-Khalil sent a shot on frame that was saved, but Streberger was right there to redirect it past the keeper.
 
Utah Valley (2-0-0) knotted it at 1-1 just two minutes later until the 26th minute when the Wolverines were called for a handball in the box. That set up a penalty kick that Lodato knocked in giving the Titans a 2-1 lead at the half. However, it was all Utah Valley in the second half as the Wolverines racked up four goals on 20 shots to put the game out of reach.
 
Aug.15 – Detroit Mercy 1 at Bowling Green 3:
Justice Tillotson scored her first goal in a Titan uniform but it wasn't enough for Detroit Mercy fell 3-1 at Bowling Green in season-opening action on Thursday night.
 
Hailey Matthews connected on a corner kick in the eighth minute that bounced around in the box before being knocked in by Tillotson to make it 1-0. It remained that way until late in the first half, as BGSU knotted the game at 1-1 in the 41st minute. The teams went into the halftime break tied at 1-1 until the Falcons broke through in the second half with two goals.
 
The Team:
The 2024 season marks the 31st year of the women's soccer program.
Head Coach Steve Shelton is in his sixth season with the program.
 
Movin' On Up:
Detroit Mercy was picked to finish eighth in the 2024 #HLWSOC Preseason Poll receiving 54 points. During the 2023 campaign, the Titans finished sixth after being picked to finish ninth.
 
Better Later Than Never to Prove Them Wrong:
With the Metro Series victory over arch-rival Oakland to conclude the 2023 regular season, Detroit Mercy qualified for the #HLWSOC Championship for the first time since the 2018 season as the No. 6 seed. Before the season, UDM was picked to finish ninth in the 2023 Preseason Poll receiving 40 points and moving up one spot from being picked 10th prior to the 2022 season.
 
Returning Firepower:
• The Titans have 23 returners led by junior midfielder and #HLWSOC All-League First Team selection Abbey Lodato who led the team in points (14), goals (6), shots (44), and shots on goal (21) while tying for fourth in assists (2).
 
• Junior midfielder Soraya Puerto-Khalil also returns after ranking second on the team in assists (4) with a goal to tie for sixth in points (6).
 
• Senior caption Erica Toupin is back after posting two goals with an assist totaling five points.
 
Last Line of Defense:
• #HLWSOC All-Freshman Team selection and defender Leila Lanier returns after helping anchor the back line to four shutout wins last season. She recorded her first career assist in UDM's 2-1 Metro Series win against arch-rival Oakland (10/25) helping the Titans qualify for the #HLWSOC Championship for the first time since the 2018 season.
• Graduate Student defender Hailey Matthews also returns after having quite the debut season for the Titans tying for third on the team in goals (3), ranking third in assists (3), and fifth in points (9) from her defensive position.
• She posted three points scoring the game-winning goal and assisting the first goal leading UDM to a 2-1 Metro Series win against arch-rival Oakland (10/25) snapping a six-game skid against the Golden Grizzlies and helping the Titans qualify for the 2023 #HLWSOC Championship for the first time since the 2018 season.
• Scored the game-winning goal to lead Detroit Mercy to a 2-1 #HLWSOC opening win over YSU for her second goal of the season and added her second assist at RMU (9/30).
• Recorded three points assisting on the game-winning goal followed by scoring her first goal in a Detroit Mercy uniform helping the Titans earn their first win of the season with a 4-2 result at Chicago State.
 
Between the Pipes:
Senior Marisa Silver, transfer Chantelle Symes, junior Holli Brown, and sophomores Grace McCormick and Eva Hill will look to compete in goal.
 
Home Sweet Home:
Last season, Detroit Mercy finished the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record in #HLWSOC matches at Titan Field with wins over YSU, Green Bay, PFW, CSU and Oakland.
 
Made in the Mitten:
Detroit Mercy has 28 student-athletes from the state of Michigan
 
Around the U.S.:
The Titans have five student-athletes from outside the state of Michigan with two from California, two from North Carolina and one from Ohio.
 
West Coast Vibes:
Grace Brutto and Samantha Ceballos are from San Diego and Whittier, California respectively.
 
Down South:
Graduate student Hailey Matthews and redshirt senior transfer Madelyn Baucom are from North Carolina while freshman Natalie Dye is the lone student-athlete from Ohio
 
International Flavor
The squad also has four international students
 
O' Canada:
Senior Danica Paesano, graduate student Tia Jokic and freshman Mya Mascaro are the three student-athletes from Canada.
 
The Land Down Under:
Senior transfer Chantelle Symes is the lone student-athlete from Australia.
 
Newcomers:
• Detroit Mercy has a diverse group of 14 newcomers headlined by Georgia and Wisconsin transfer and Canton, Mich. native Joyelle Washington who helped the Badgers reach the Round of 16 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and led the Bulldogs in game-winning goals (3) while ranking second on the team in goals (5) and third in points (11) in 2022.
 
• In addition to Washington, the Titans have added four additional transfers in Justice Tillotson (UTEP) and Mikayla Duncan, who are both Michigan natives, along with Madelyn Baucom (Kennesaw State) and Syms (Southern Illinois) for a total of five.
 
• UDM adds a total of nine freshman in Addison Ayris, Maria Bara, Kyleen Bradow, Natalie Dye, Olivia Karkaba, Mya Mascaro, Camryn Pepper, Sam Sickinger, and Amelia Streberger who will look to make an immediate impact.