DETROIT (7-27-25) – Detroit Mercy Men's Soccer Head Coach Nate Kopunek has added three newcomers in Rex Pearce, Evan Peleska, and Ryan Sommerfeld, completing the roster for the upcoming 2025 season.
 
"We are extremely excited about these three transfer additions, and on top of being fantastic additions on the field, most importantly, they all have extremely high character," said Kopunek.
 
"Ryan is a forward coming from an exceptional Ohio Northern program, where he was an all-American, helping them to multiple NCAA appearances," added Kopunek. "Rex is another attacking player that is extremely versatile with the ability to impact the score sheet in the run of play and on dead balls. Finally, Evan is someone we recruited back in high school, who joins us from UMKC, which had a great run in the NCAA tournament last year. We are excited to finally get him here as a titan, as he will bring the ability to build the game for us as a central midfielder with a great engine."
 
"Throughout the recruiting process, we got to know these individuals quite well, and we feel they will hit the ground running right away when they get to Titan Territory."
 


Rex Pearce – F
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
High School: Kuringai
Previous School: Hartford Community College
Club Team: Canterbury Bankstown FC
 
Highlights:
• NJCAA All-America Third Team selection (2024)
• First team All-Region 20 Division I honoree (2024)
• Named Male Scholar Athlete of the Year (2024)
• Finished two-year playing career with 22 goals, 11 assists, and 55 points.
• Ranked in the Top 10 in goals with 15 (sixth) and 37 points (eighth) while leading Region 20 Division I in all three of the same categories during the 2024 campaign. He also led NJCAA Division I with 86 shots.
• Posted career-high three goals twice, with the first hat trick coming in a 12-0 win over Anne Arundel (8/27) and the second in a 7-0 victory against CCBC Catonsville.
• Had two assists in a 2-0 win against Howard (10/10) and was involved in all three goals against Monroe Community College (10/20) with a goal and two assists in a 3-2 victory.



Evan Peleska – MF
Hometown: Arden Hills, Minn.
High School: Shattuck St. Mary's
Previous School: UMKC
 
Highlights:
• Didn't see action but was a member of the UMKC team that won the Summit League and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2024.
• Made three appearances during the 2025 spring season at UMKC, scoring two goals.
• Four-year letter winner for Head Coach Sean Bushey.
• Helped Shattuck St. Mary's make the MLS Next playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
• Scored the game-winning goal against Minnesota United
• Seven-time selection for the US Youth National Futsal Team, the most in US history
• Three-year USYF team captain



Ryan Sommerfeld – F
Hometown: Dublin, Ohio
High School: Dublin Coffman
Previous Team: Ohio Northern
Club Team: Ohio Premier
 
Highlights:
• Finished career at Ohio Northern with 25 goals, 17 assists, 67 points, with 50 starts in 71 games played.
• Ohio Northern (2024): Started in all 22 games played
• Posted nine goals with seven assists for 25 points
• First-team all-region and first-team All-OAC selection
• Second-team Academic All-American
 
• Ohio Northern (2023): Started in 20 of 23 games played
• Posted 11 goals with five assists for 27 points
• Helped lead the team to an OAC tournament championship
• Second-team all-region selection
• First-team All-OAC selection
• First-team Academic All-American
• Led Ohio Northern to an upset win over the No. 1 ranked Messiah in the NCAA Division III tournament, which had been undefeated over two consecutive seasons.
 
• Ohio Northern (2022): Played in 21 matches with three starts,
• Helped lead the team to an OAC championship
• Played in and started five matches, recording seven points with two goals and three assists.
• Earned Academic All-OAC honors
 
• Ohio Northern (2021): Played in 21 matches with three starts
• Scored three goals on 24 shots and with two assists for eight points
• Recorded first career goal in a 1-0 win against Heidelberg (10/21).
• Scored his first career multi-goal game in a 4-0 win over Marietta (11/2) in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals.
 
High School:
• Three-year letter winner for Head Coach Brian Stoddard
• Named team captain, first-team All-OCC selection (2020)
• Second-team All-OCC selection (2018, 2019)
• Helped lead Dublin to an OCC championship and district championship (2018).
• National Honor Society member