DETROIT (3/2/2026) -- In the midst of a six-game road swing, the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will be back in the Buckeye State as the Titans face Xavier on Wednesday.

Game time is set for 6:00 p.m., at Corcoran Field and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

The Titans are coming off a tough game at Ohio State. Freshman Alison Smiley had her third-straight multi-goal contests with two markers. Senior Alyssa Jarvis had a career-high three assists, and senior Libby Cucker added a goal, an assist, and two caused turnovers.

Xavier is 1-4 on the year. The win was a 13-6 triumph at Mercyhurst, while the Musketeers have dropped games to MAC rivals Akron, Eastern Michigan, and Kent State.

After the game, the Titans will travel to Lindenwood on Saturday.

SEASON 18 FOR THE TITANS

• The first-ever game was on Feb. 21, 2009, a 20-1 road victory at Howard. 
• Detroit Mercy posted its first winning season in 2015 at 10-8, broke that mark with a school-record 12-8 in 2016, and had another winning season at 10-8 in 2018. 
• The Titans have been on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament, making four straight trips to the Atlantic Sun Championship game from 2013 to 2016 and the MAC title game in 2024.
• UDM is 98-178 all-time, but 50-54 in its conference games throughout the years as members of the National Lacrosse Conference (2010-12), ASUN (2013-17), Southern Conference (2018-19), and the MAC (2020-present). 
• Eight coaches have guided the program in Mary Ann Meltzer (2009-11), Laura Maness (2012-16), Laurie Merian (2017-2018), Megan Callahan (2019-20), Dwayne Hicks (2021-23), Madeline Dugan (2024), Alexa Matta (2025), and now Emma Kuehl.

WE WILL MISS YOU DETROIT

• The Titans played their season opener at home but are now 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 a journey to Missouri. 

VS. XAVIER

• Detroit Mercy and Xavier have met just twice before and have split the first two meetings. 
• Both meetings have taken place on the road.

Series History
2/19/23 - Away - W, 11-10
3/5/24 - Away - L, 8-12

NEED TO BE ROAD STRONG

• The Titans are 42-100 all-time on the road.
• Detroit Mercy did post three road wins last year for the second straight season, the most since going 4-6 on the road in 2019.
• Over half of the Titans' 279 career games have been away from the Motor City, including the 142 road games and 25 neutral-site battles.  

AGAINST OUR FELLOW JESUITS

• The Titans are 2-19 all-time against Jesuit schools, with the two wins coming against Canisius at home last season and against Xavier, 11-10, in 2023. 
• Most of that is due to a 0-10 record versus Marquette. 

AGAINST THE BIG EAST

• The Titans are 5-16 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST, with four victories over Butler and one against Xavier.   

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.

SERVING SAAC

• The women's lacrosse team has 13 members currently serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in Alyssa Jarvis, Lucy Annese, Abbi Bernhardt, Ava Bandi, Emily Coyne, Ashleigh Dixon, Kaitlynn Hedrick, Lillie Peshek, Avary Sacdalan, Chloe Sheader, Alison Smiley, Morgan Stamatakis, and Olivia Starr.
• For Jarvis, she will also be the organization's Secretary.

  
GIVE ME LIBERTY

• Senior Liberty Cuckler tallied two goals and an assist in the season opener against Butler, and added a goal and a helper at Canisius and at Ohio State.
• She is now tied for 10th in school history with 33 assists, and also has 80 career points, scoring 37 goals.
• 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. 
• She then posted two more markers and a helper at Canisius, and a career-high three assists, three DC's, and two GB's at Ohio State.
• Jarvis has 151 draw controls, fifth in the record book, and is sixth with 3.02 draws per game. 
• She also has 80 points on 67 goals and 13 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.
• Jarvis 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 in the season opener, as she tallied 13 draw controls, a caused turnover, and a ground ball in her collegiate debut against Butler.
• The 13 draws set a UDM rookie record and ranked third 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 has had a great start to her collegiate career, leading the team with nine goals in the first three games, recording a hat trick in two.
• She just had two markers at Ohio State.
• In her collegiate debut, she accomplished something that had not been done in 13 years and had been done just three times in school history posting 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.
• She came back with three markers at Canisius. 
• 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.

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.

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 then made three in 30 minutes of action at Canisius and had one in 30 minutes at Ohio State.   
• 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 got that start at Canisius and made seven saves in the first half, and that was after registering one save in 15 minutes against Butler. She also got the start at OSU, recording two stops. 
• Bernhardt made her collegiate debut and played the final 5:11 in the season opener and the final 4:20 versus the Buckeyes. 

ONE BRIGHT CHLOE

• Freshman Chloe Sheader was another rookie who made quite a collegiate debut, recording a goal, an assist, and four draw controls against Butler, and then had a takeaway and a GB at Canisius.
• She just scored her second goal of the season at Ohio State. 
• 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.

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, and added three more GB's at Canisius and a CT at Ohio State.
• 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.

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.

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 against Butler. 
• 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.

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.

STAR STRUCK

• Freshman Olivia Starr was a member of U-19 and U-15 Team Ontario and the U-22 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.

LOOKING AT 2027

• Detroit Mercy head coach Emma Kuehl announced her first signing class, featuring 10 student-athletes set to join the Titans next fall. 
• Joining the Titans as freshmen next fall are Mia Balogh (Brighton, Mich.), Solei Ewing (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Kendall Kreft (Davisburg, Mich.), Julienna Koller (Sylvania, Ohio), Molly Leyes (Grand Blanc, Mich.), Ellery Marsh (Neenah, Wisc.), Jena Robinson (Humble, Tex.), Gabrielle Smith (Granger, Ind.), Anni Yeomans (Mississauga, Ont.), and Anja Zakrzewski (Eaton Rapids, Mich.).