Men's Lacrosse 04.29.25

Titans Open NEC Postseason At Top-Seeded Le Moyne On Thursday

Men's Lacrosse 04.29.25

Titans Open NEC Postseason At Top-Seeded Le Moyne On Thursday

The Titans will look for their fifth straight win and advance to the NEC Championship game.

DETROIT (4/29/2025) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team is back in the postseason, and now the team will be looking for its second conference championship as the Titans head to upstate New York for the Northeast Conference Championships.

Detroit Mercy is the #4 seed and will meet the #1 seed Le Moyne at Ted Grant Field in Syracuse on Thursday, May 1, at 4:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on NEC FrontRow and ESPN+.

The Dolphins defeated the Titans, 8-5, in the Motor City in late March, the last time UDM lost a game.

Detroit Mercy has been on elimination alert for a few weeks after falling to 0-3 in the NEC with that loss, but the squad has come back to win four in a row to make the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Last week at Cleveland State, senior Chase Mahabir tallied a career-high eight points on four goals and four assists to lead the offense, while senior Ryan Richters made 19 saves and let in just four goals in the 15-4 postseason-clinching victory.

Le Moyne was 9-5 on the year and 6-1 in the NEC as the Dolphins shared the regular season championship with Robert Morris, but earned the top seed and the right to host by beating RMU in overtime, 8-7, last week.

The other semifinal game will have the #2 Colonials taking on #3 LIU at Noon.

SEASON #17 FOR TITAN LAX

The first-ever game for the Titans was on Feb. 7, 2009, when the red, white and blue fell at Ohio State, 21-1. Scott Harris netted the first goal in school history.
In the first 16 years, Detroit Mercy won the 2013 MAAC Championship and advanced to the championship game in 2011 and 2018 before moving to the Atlantic Sun in 2022 and now the Northeast Conference in 2025.
The red, white, and blue posted their first winning season in 2016 at 8-6, broke that pace at 9-7 in 2018, and had another winning mark at 8-7 in 2019.
While in the MAAC for 12 years, they qualified for the postseason nine times - missing only 2010, 2016 and the canceled pandemic season of 2020.

FIRST MEETING

Redshirt freshman Marcus Thundercloud was the offense for the Titans with a team-high four goals, but an early deficit was too much to overcome as Detroit Mercy fell, 8-5, to Le Moyne on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Freshman Andrew Parker added the other score and picked up three ground balls.
Senior Ryan Richters made eight saves, had three ground balls, and a caused turnover. Junior Kyle Grant had a team-high three caused turnovers and a team-best four ground balls, while freshman Ian Greenwell had a takeaway and two GB's.
Le Moyne jumped out to a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the game and led 5-0 midway through the second before the Titans cut it to 5-2 at the break.
UDM inched closer with a goal early in the third, but the Dolphins had a three-goal advantage at 7-4 and again at 8-5 with 7:15 left, and that is how it ended.
The Titans were outshot, 34-29, but held the Dolphins scoreless on four extra-man opportunities. UDM was also 18-of-20 on clears.

LOOKING TO MAKE IT 5 IN A ROW

It all started down 9-4 in the fourth period with 11:20 left at VMI, when the Titans started their four-game winning streak by scoring six straight goals and winning in overtime, 10-9.
The four-game winning streak is the second-longest in school history.
The biggest hot streak was five in a row in 2018, which ended with a trip to the MAAC title game and a heartbreaking 10-9 loss in overtime to Canisius in head coach Charlie Hayes' senior year.

POSTSEASON HISTORY

The last time the Titans made the postseason was in 2021, falling at St. Bonaventure in the MAAC quarterfinals.
The Titans are 4-9 all-time in the postseason, winning the MAAC title in 2013 and advancing to the championship game in 2011 and 2018.
Two of their postseason wins have been huge comebacks as the Titans erased a 9-5 deficit in the fourth to beat Monmouth in the 2018 MAAC semifinals, 12-9. In the title game against Siena in 2013, Detroit Mercy was down 9-3 in the third before rallying to win the championship in overtime, 11-10, where they advanced to its lone NCAA Tournament and fell to second-seeded Notre Dame, 9-7.
Detroit Mercy is looking to end a three-game postseason slide, with the last win that 2018 comeback over Monmouth.

THE STORY OF THE 4

Detroit Mercy has been the fourth seed twice in the postseason.
In 2013, UDM upset top-seeded Marist, 7-6, and then defeated Siena in overtime, 11-10, to win the MAAC, while in 2017, the Titans fell to top-seeded Monmouth on a neutral field, 11-7.
In NEC history, the #4 seed is 4-10 all-time, with the only champion Robert Morris in 2019 as the Colonials knocked off #1 Mount St. Mary's, 13-12, in overtime in the semifinals and #2 Hobart, 11-10, in the title game.

WINNING ON THE ROAD

Detroit Mercy is still looking for consistency on the road, as it is 31-93 all-time in road match-ups.
One of those wins was a playoff road win, defeating Monmouth 12-9 in 2018 in the MAAC Championship semifinals.
Detroit Mercy has three road wins this season, the most since winning five away from the Motor City in 2019.

NO IT'S MINE

Detroit Mercy comes into the contest leading the NEC and 16th in the nation with 9.45 caused turnovers per game.
The Titans have six games on the year with double-digit takeaways and came away with a season-high 15 against Wagner. They also had 12 at Hampton, 11 at Ohio State, at Bellarmine and at Cleveland State, and 10 at VMI.
Detroit Mercy has a history of taking the ball away as they have ranked in the top 10 in the nation in caused turnovers six times, including leading the nation with 11.63 in 2011 and 10.47 in 2012.

WHAT'S THAT NOISE

Redshirt freshman Marcus Thundercloud has been named the NEC Rookie of the Week four times this season, including this past week, after tallying a season-high five points on four goals and an assist.
Before that, he scored four goals against Mercyhurst for his third rookie honor.
He earned the accolade in back-to-back weeks after tallying three goals and an assist at VMI - with the game-winner in overtime - and four goals against Le Moyne.
He is the first Titan freshman honored with an award since Will Edell was the MAAC Rookie of the Week on Mar. 31, 2021, and the first Titan to receive a conference weekly award since Ryan Birney was the ASUN Player of the Week on Feb. 7, 2023.
He is second on the team with 21 goals and 23 points - playing in only eight games as he missed some time with a broken arm - and ranks fourth in the NEC with 2.63 goals per game. He has notched 19 of his 21 goals in conference action, leading his peers at 3.17 per game.
Thundercloud missed last year with a knee injury.

I WANT THE BALL

Junior Kyle Grant started the year tallying a career-high six caused turnovers and seven ground balls in the season opener at Ohio State.
The six caused turnovers are tied for second in school history, behind the seven Jamie Hebden had against VMI in 2013.
The last Titan to have six caused turnovers in a game was current head coach Charlie Hayes, who had six against Bellarmine in 2018.
He was named a Prime Time performer by the NEC and was also named to the USILA Lacrosse Team of the Week for that effort at OSU.
He scored his first goal on his first collegiate shot against Mercyhurst, while the week before, he had three caused turnovers and three ground balls against Wagner. He led a tough Titan defense in the 10-9 overtime win at VMI, ending with four caused turnovers and five ground balls. Three of those takeaways were in the second half.
Grant played in all 13 games last season and tallied five caused turnovers and 19 GBs, but has 21 takeaways and 34 ground balls this season.
He has posted a caused turnover in eight games on the season and multi-caused turnovers in six outings.
He is currently leading the NEC and 10th in the nation at 1.91 caused turnovers per game and ninth in the NEC and 93rd in DI with 3.09 GB's per game.

CHASING YOU DOWN

Senior Chase Mahabir has continued to raise his offensive game and was just named the NEC Player of the Week for the third straight week after posting a career-high eight points on four goals and a career-best four assists in the postseason-clinching win at Cleveland State.
It was his fifth hat trick this season, while the eight points are tied for the third most in school history and the most by a Titan since 2019.
The week before, he tallied five goals - including the game-winner with 47 seconds left against Mercyhurst. His five-goal outburst also saw him tally the last three goals of the game, one with the man down.
Against Wagner, he scored a career-high six goals - tied for the second most in school history - with an assist.
He has a man-down marker in two straight games, the most ever by a Titan in one season.
At VMI, he scored a goal - which tied the game at 9-9 with a minute left - and added two helpers.
Mahabir also had three goals and an assist at Hampton and at LIU.
He leads the team with 23 goals, 12 assists, and 35 points. He is fifth in the NEC with 2.09 goals per game and sixth at 3.18 points per game.
In league play, his 20 goals and 2.86 goals are tied for the most, while his 29 points and 4.14 points per game are third.

GUARDING THE NET

Senior Ryan Richters is coming off one of his best games as a Titan, finishing with 19 saves and giving up a career-low four goals - the fewest goals by the Titans since 2018 - in the postseason-clinching win at Cleveland State to earn his first-ever Defensive Player of the Week.
He is second in the NEC and ninth in the nation with 13.0 saves per game and third in the league and 25th in DI with a .536 save percentage.
Richters stands fourth in school history with 330 saves and has recorded double-digit stops in 21 of his 24 games.
He was stellar in helping the Titans post their first NEC victory with 13 saves at VMI, which included eight saves in the second half, a key one in overtime and allowing just two goals in the final 39 minutes of play.
Richters had a career-high 21 saves at LIU, tied for the fourth most in school history, and 13 saves versus Robert Morris.
He started the season stopping 16 shots with three ground balls and a caused turnover at Ohio State. He had 13 saves, three GBs, and a takeaway at Marquette, and 13 saves with a career-high three caused turnovers at Bellarmine.
Last season, he tallied double-digit saves in all 13 games, posting 187 total saves, tied for 17th in the country, and was second in the school record book, just 15 shy of the single-season mark.
His 14.38 saves per game led the Atlantic Sun and was third in Division I.
Prior to his arrival in the Motor City, he played for Team Latvia at the 2023 World Lacrosse Championships and was nominated to the All-World Team.

PARKING IT HERE

Freshman Andrew Parker did not play in the season opener at Ohio State, but on his first-ever shot at Marquette, he beat the keeper for his first collegiate goal.
Parker is coming off his best game with a season-high five points on two goals and three assists at Cleveland State.
He has now scored a goal in seven of his 10 games and is fourth on the team with 16 points and 10 goals and tied for second with six assists.
He tallied his first career hat trick with three goals and an assist versus Wagner.
Parker had a goal and two ground balls against Robert Morris and another marker against Le Moyne and at VMI.

MR. MARSHALL TO YOU

Senior Will Marshall has been a vital component of the offense and defense and just had two caused turnovers and three ground balls in the win at Cleveland State.
He had a good start to the season, with a takeaway and three ground balls at Ohio State, added two more CT's and a GB at Marquette, and a caused turnover and career-high four GB's at Bellarmine.
He scored his first goal of the season at VMI and registered a caused turnover and two ground balls versus Wagner.
Last year, Marshall had two caused turnovers and three ground balls at #16/14 Rutgers, recorded a goal, caused turnover and ground ball at Utah, and posted a career-high three caused turnovers with three GB's and a goal against Queens
He has played in 46 career games and has five goals, 18 caused turnovers and 49 ground balls.

KING ME

Senior Aidan Bishop has scored a goal in four straight games and has two goals in three straight contests after netting a pair with an assist in the win at Cleveland State.
He scored two goals against Mercyhurst and recorded three points on two goals and an assist against Wagner.
He is third on the team with 12 goals, six assists and 18 points.
Bishop was the leading returning scorer after recording a career-high 26 points, second with a career-best 21 goals, and picking up a career-high 27 ground balls, third on the team, last season.
In his career, he has now played in 48 games with 45 starts and has 51 goals, 17 assists, 71 GB's, and 12 caused turnovers.

OUR GREEN WALL

Freshman Ian Greenwell has started 10 of the 11 games as a rookie and has recorded a ground ball in 10 and a caused turnover in eight of them.
At Cleveland State, he helped the defense with a caused turnover and four ground balls.
He had his best game with three caused turnovers and six ground balls in the come-from-behind win at VMI and came back with two takeaways and four GB's against Wagner.
In his collegiate debut at Ohio State, he had three ground balls. He posted a takeaway and three GB's against Robert Morris and a caused turnover and two ground balls versus Le Moyne.
Greenwell is now second on the team with 12 caused turnovers and fourth with 29 ground balls and ranks sixth in the NEC with 1.09 caused turnovers and 12th with 2.64 ground balls per game.

HAVE YOURSELF A DAY

Freshman Canton Lanham came into the game at Hampton just 10-of-35 in faceoffs in the first three games, but he was a force against the Pirates, going 12-of-18 with four GB's.
Since that start, he has been brilliant, winning 85-of-151 (56.2%) in the last eight games.
He won a season-best 19-of-27 with a season-high 11 ground balls against Mercyhurst - the most wins and GB's by a freshman in school history and tied for the sixth most victories in the record book, while the 11 ground balls are tied for the third most by a Titan.
He was 15-of-24 with five ground balls in the win over Wagner, securing 10-of-15 in the second half and 5-of-6 in the final period.
At LIU, he was 12-of-20 with five ground balls, won 5-of-12 against Le Moyne, and registered a 12-of-20 record and five GB's at VMI.
Lanham is third in the NEC winning 51.1%, and seventh at 3.27 GB's per game.

SHORT STICK BIG DEFENSE

Junior Jackson Ewald's stat sheet might seem light, but the short-stick midfielder is one of the best in the business.
Learning from the best short-stick defensive midfielder in school history in head coach Charlie Hayes, Ewald has four caused turnovers and 12 ground balls on the season.
He has two ground balls in three games this season and always draws the tough assignment on the defensive side.

THICK SKIN

Senior Harold Skinner moved into the starting line-up early in the season and has showcased his talent on both the offensive and defensive end.
He is coming off a career-high three caused turnovers and six ground balls in the postseason-clinching win at Cleveland State.
He had a goal against Robert Morris, a career-high four points on two goals and two assists at LIU, and found the back of the net once at VMI. Against Wagner, he recorded a pair of assists and a takeaway and had a goal and an assist versus Mercyhurst.
Skinner has battled some injuries, limiting him to 25 games, but is having his best season with seven goals, six assists, 13 points, six caused turnovers and 14 ground balls.

THAT'S RIGHT I SAID OWEN

Senior Eoghan Mullett - pronounced Owen - has six games on the season with a caused turnover and six picking up a ground ball.
He tied his season high with two caused turnovers against Mercyhurst. Mullett tallied two takeaways and two ground balls at LIU, collected three ground balls against Robert Morris, and posted a caused turnover at Bellarmine.
Mullett was third on the team with eight caused turnovers and seventh with 21 ground balls last season.

I WILL TAKE A HENIGE

Senior Sean Henige posted two caused turnovers and two ground balls against Mercyhurst.
The week before, he had a takeaway and two ground balls against Wagner.
Henige scooped up a season-high five GB's at LIU and had a caused turnover and ground ball at VMI.
At Marquette, he tallied a caused turnover and three ground balls and had two GB's and two takeaways at Bellarmine.
Last season, he appeared in all 13 games with 12 starts last year, leading the team with 16 caused turnovers and finishing fourth with 26 ground balls.
He tallied three caused turnovers and a career-high seven ground balls against VMI and tied his career-high with three takeaways and two ground balls at Ohio State.
In his three years, he has started 34 of the team's 36 games and has 33 caused turnovers and 62 ground balls.

WE NEED MOORE

Sophomore Gavin Moore is another talented short-stick defensive midfielder.
He tallied a career-high three caused turnovers and scored his first collegiate goal against Wagner.
Last week, he scored another goal with two GBs at Cleveland State.
Moore finished with two CT's against Le Moyne and one at LIU and at VMI.

ZACH ATTACK

Freshman Zach Gleason had a fine collegiate debut, finding the back of the net twice at Ohio State.
He had a team-high five shots, with four on net, all in front of friends and family, as he was an All-American as a senior at Loveland in Ohio.
He had another multi-goal effort with a pair of markers at Hampton and was back in the scoring column with a goal against Wagner.
In the win over Mercyhurst, Gleason registered a goal and an assist.

SHOW ME SOME LOVE

Senior Billy Hart is fourth in school history with 202 faceoff wins and ninth at winning 41.5%.
Last season, he led the team with a career-best 44 ground balls and 77 faceoff wins, as his 3.67 ground balls per game was good for sixth in the Atlantic Sun.
Hart ended last season with one of the best days in school history, going a career-best 17-of-24, tied for the 10th most wins, with a career-high nine ground balls against Cleveland State.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF

Senior Caden Loken did not see any action in his first three seasons, but after making his collegiate debut at Ohio State, he scored his first two goals at Marquette.
Loken's older brother, Kyle, was a five-year letterwinner from 2020-24 and a three-time captain as a SSDM.

NOLAN'S OUR MAN

Senior Nolan Graalman got the start at Cleveland State and ended with a goal, assist, two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
He got into the scoring column with a goal and an assist at Bellarmine and added another at LIU and at VMI.
In his career, he has played in 42 games and has 33 goals and 38 points, with 15 goals and 16 points as a sophomore.