UDM Starts Six-Game Road Swing In Upstate NY On Tuesday

Women's Lacrosse 02.08.26

UDM Starts Six-Game Road Swing In Upstate NY On Tuesday

Redshirt freshman Avary Sacdalan had a goal in her collegiate debut.

DETROIT (2/8/2026) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will hit the road for the better part of six weeks as the Titans head to Buffalo, New York, to face Canisius on Saturday.

Game time is set for 3:00 p.m., at the Demske Sports Complex and will be streamed live on the Golden Griffin Sports Network.

The Titans played their season opener at home in a thrilling 17-13 setback against Butler, but will now embark on a school-record six-game road trip, with their next home game slated for Mar. 19. The road swing will see them head to upstate New York, play three games in Ohio, take a bus ride to Milwaukee, and then journey to Missouri.

Senior Alyssa Jarvis tallied a career-high six points on the strength of five goals. Freshman Alison Smiley posted four goals, and freshman Lillie Peschek recorded a school rookie record 13 draw controls.

This will be Canisius' season opener, after finishing last season at 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the MAAC.

The Titans ended a four-game slide last year to the Golden Griffins with a 12-7 win in the Motor City.

VS. CANISIUS

Detroit Mercy and Canisius are about a five-and-a-half-hour drive apart through Canada, yet these teams have met just five times, with the Golden Griffins winning four of those.
Last season, the Titans won for the first time with a 12-7 decision in the Motor City.
UDM is 0-2 all-time in upstate New York.

Series History
3/28/10 - Away - L, 5-20
2/26/11 - Home - L, 6-17
2/12/23 - Home - L, 6-16
3/2/24 - Away - L, 11-14
2/22/25 - Home - W, 12-7

ROAD OPENERS

Detroit Mercy is 2-15 all-time in road openers, with most of those contests against the likes of Ohio State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Florida.
The two road wins were at Howard in the program's first-ever game in 2009, 20-1, and an 11-10 triumph at Xavier in 2023.

AGAINST OUR FELLOW JESUITS

The Titans are 2-18 all-time against Jesuit schools, with the two wins against Canisius at home last season and a triumph at Xavier,11-10, in 2023.
Most of that is due to a 0-10 record versus Marquette.

HONOR THY CAPTAIN

Detroit Mercy will go with four captains this season as seniors Libby Cuckler, Angelina Hook, Alyssa Jarvis, and Jane Peck will have the honor.
Cuckler and Jarvis are four-year Titans who have combined to play over 90 games entering the season and are the top two offensive players back from last year.
Hook is another four-year Titan who has been a mainstay in the backline for the last two seasons, and Peck is in her third year in the red, white and blue after playing her freshman campaign at La Salle.

SMART LADIES

Detroit Mercy tallied a 3.51 GPA in the fall term, with 10 players recording a 3.5 GPA and two with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Also, 15 of the Titans earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
Last season, the Titans were named an IWLCA All-Academic squad for the 15th time in their 17-year history.

GIVE ME LIBERTY

Senior Liberty Cuckler tallied two goals and an assist in the season opener against Butler and is now 11th in school history with 31 helpers.
She also has 76 career points on 35 goals and 31 assists.
Cuckler is coming off a sensational season in which she was named Second Team All-MAC.
She started all 15 games and led the team with a career-high 47 points, tied for first with a career-best 30 goals, and tied for second with a career-high 17 assists.
Cuckler was tied for fifth in the MAC with 1.13 helpers per game, seventh with 3.13 points per game, tied for seventh with 2.00 goals per game, and sixth with 3.93 shots on goal per contest.
She scored a goal in 13 of her 15 games, with nine multi-goal contests and five hat tricks.
She posted a career-high six points on a career-best four goals with two assists at Furman, and a career-tying four goals and finished with five points at Kent State. She also had five points on a career-high four assists and a goal at Youngstown State, and ended the year with four goals against Robert Morris in the MAC semifinals.

OUR APPLE GIRL

Senior Alyssa Jarvis got off to a great start in the season opener, tallying a career-high six points on a career-tying five goals, to go with two draw controls and a ground ball.
Three of her goals were on the free position, and all nine of her shots were on the cage.
Jarvis now has 148 draw controls, fifth in the record book, and is sixth with 3.08 draws per game.
She also has 74 points on 65 goals and nine assists.
She has earned All-MAC Second Team honors in each of the last two seasons.
Last year, Jarvis started all 15 games and tied for the team lead with a career-high 30 goals and was fourth with a career-best 31 points. She scored a goal in 13 of the 15 games, with eight multi-goal games, four hat tricks, and a pair of career-high five-goal outbursts.
She topped the team with 61 draw controls - eighth in school history - and ranked sixth in the league and 88th in the nation with 4.07 draw per game.
She netted five goals with seven draws versus Akron - en route to the MAC Offensive Player of the Week - and tied her career-high with five goals with five draw controls at Youngstown State. She also grabbed a season-high nine draws against Robert Morris, while scoring a goal.

RECORD DEBUT FOR LIL PESH

Freshman Lillie Peshek did all she could to help the offense as she tallied 13 draw controls, a caused turnover, and a ground ball in her collegiate debut against Butler.
The 13 draws were a UDM rookie record and the third-most in school history.
Peshek earned First Team All-Conference as a senior and Honorable Mention All-Conference as a sophomore and junior in high school.
She tallied 55 points, 111 draw controls, and 22 ground balls as a senior.

ALL SMILES

Freshman Alison Smiley had a great collegiate debut, accomplishing something that had not been done in 13 years and had been done just three times in school history.
Smiley posted four goals, the first freshman to post a hat trick in her collegiate debut since Michaela Schwartz scored three at Robert Morris in 2013.
Smiley's four goals in her debut were the most since Anna Eidem had six and Emily Boissonneault had five against Howard in UDM's first-ever game in 2009.
As a prep, she recorded 297 career points at Mercy High School, second in school history. She was tabbed All-League three times and was All-State and All-Catholic twice.
In her final season, she scored 124 points, secured 47 draw controls, and was named the team's MVP.

ONE BRIGHT CHLOE

Freshman Chloe Sheader was another rookie who made quite a collegiate debut, recording a goal, an assist, and four draw controls.
Sheader posted 43 goals, 28 assists, 71 points, along with 81 ground balls, 60 caused turnovers, and 171 draw controls in 41 career games in high school.
She played club with True Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh National, and True National and helped her teams to a NXT title in 2023 and a national tournament championship in 2024.

OFF THE HOOK

Senior Angelina Hook saw limited time as a freshman, but has been a main starter on the defensive side of the ball the last two seasons.
Last year, she started all 15 games and was fourth on the team with a career-high 11 caused turnovers and fifth with a career-best 21 ground balls.
She picked up at least one ground ball in 13 games and had a takeaway in eight contests.
Hook recorded a career-high three caused turnovers and three ground balls against Central Michigan.
In her career, she has 16 caused turnovers and 36 ground balls.

LOOKING FOR OUR AVARY

Redshirt freshman Avary Sacdalan missed all of last season with an injury, but she made an impact in her collegiate debut against Butler, finding the back of the net for her first goal.
In high school, she was All-League as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and was the Team MVP as a junior.
She also played club with MDLAX.

PATROLLING THE CAGE

The Titans will have one of the youngest netminder units in the country, with sophomore Kaitlynn Hedrick, redshirt freshman Emily Coyne, and freshman Abbi Bernhardt.
All three played in the opener, with Hedrick getting the start and playing nearly 40 minutes, posting four saves.
She came into the season as the only one who had seen time in the cage in college, playing in two games off the bench as a rookie.
Coyne registered one save in 15 minutes, and Bernhardt played the final 5:11.

D-UP

Freshman Morgan Stamatakis had a standout career on offense in high school, but will now look to help on both sides of the ball after coming away with an assist and a draw control in the season opener.
She registered over 150 goals and 200 points as a prep, and was selected All-League Third Team as a sophomore and Honorable Mention as a junior and senior.
Stamatakis posted 50 goals in back-to-back seasons, including a career-high 10 against Rochester Adams, and played club with Detroit United Lacrosse.

NOTHING NEW FOR US

A pair of redshirt freshmen will look to hold down a couple of defensive spots in Ava Bandi and Lucy Annese.
Both had injuries that helped keep them out for the entire season as rookies, but they gained experience from the sidelines.
Bandi recorded a team-high two caused turnovers and had a ground ball in the season opener. As a prep, she helped her team to a district championship as a sophomore and senior. She also played club with True PA and True National.
A Canadian product, Annese was a five-time Elite Provincial champion and helped her team to three undefeated seasons. She also won a silver medal with the Ontario U19 team and was the recipient of the DDSB Rob Dyment Character Athlete Award and the Athlete of the Year.

STAR STRUCK

Freshmen Olivia Starr was a member of U-19 and U-15 Team Ontario and the U22 Ontario Women's box lacrosse.
She played travel with the Rock Stars Elite, Burlington Minor, Hamilton Lacrosse, and JEWL Selects Junior Elite, and helped her team to a gold medal at the USA Box Lacrosse nationals in 2023, a silver in 2024, and a bronze for the U19 Ontario Field team at the Jenny Kyle Cup.

NO PECK ABOUT IT

Senior Jane Peck saw action in just one game last season, but one of the co-captains is looking to end her career in high form.
She spent her freshman season at La Salle, but did not see action in any games.
Peck played in 12 games for the Titans in 2024, when they made their run to the MAC Championship, and one last year.

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