DETROIT (3/9/2026) -- The conference season is now here as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will start the season the same way it has played the last four games - on the road - as the red, white and blue visit Akron on Saturday.

The game will be the MAC opener for both schools and is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. at InfoCision Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on the Zips Digital Network.

The game is the fifth and final of a five-game road trip, during which UDM fell to Lindenwood last week.

Senior Alyssa Jarvis leads the team with 15 points, six assists, and seven ground balls, and is tied for the squad lead with nine goals. Redshirt freshman Ava Bandi tops the team with seven caused turnovers, while freshman Alison Smiley also has nine goals.

Akron - who won the MAC Championship last season - is 5-2 on the year, but just fell at Arizona State.

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.

OUR MAC HISTORY

• This is the sixth season in the MAC for the Titans, and UDM is 12-28 all-time in MAC games.
• Detroit Mercy missed the playoffs the first three years but had quite a turnaround in 2024, going 3-3 and qualifying for the postseason, where the Titans upset #1 Central Michigan on the road in the semifinals before falling to Robert Morris in the title game. 
• Last year, the Titans were 3-3 and earned the fourth seed in the MAC tournament.  

WE WILL MISS YOU DETROIT

• The Titans played their season opener at home but are now on a five-game road trip, with their next home game slated for Mar. 19.
• The five road swing is tied for the most in school history, and will see the Titans in New York, Missouri, and Ohio. 

VS. AKRON

• The Titans lead the all-time series, 5-2, taking last year's match-up at home, 10-8.
• UDM is 3-0 all-time on the road.

Series History
Apr. 13, 2021 - Away - W, 15-14 (2 OT)
Apr. 24, 2021 - Home - L, 16-12
Mar. 16, 2022 - Home. - W, 15-12
Apr. 23, 2022 - Away - W, 14-8
Apr. 12, 2023 - Away - W, 11-10
Apr. 14, 2024 - Away - L, 11-10
Mar. 20, 2025 - Home - W, 10-8

NEED TO BE ROAD STRONG

• The Titans are 42-102 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 in 2019.
• Over half of the Titans' 281 career games have been away from the Motor City, including the 144 road games and 25 neutral-site battles.  

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.

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.

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.

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.). 

GIVE ME LIBERTY

• Senior Liberty Cuckler tallied two goals and an assist in the season opener against Butler. She has since added a goal and a helper at Canisius and at Ohio State, as well as a goal last week at Lindenwood.
• She is now tied for 10th in school history with 33 assists, and also has 81 career points, scoring 38 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 leads the team with 15 points, six assists, and seven ground balls, and is tied for the squad lead with nine goals. 
• She 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 posted two more markers and a helper at Canisius, a career-high three assists, three DC's, and two GB's at Ohio State, and is coming off a goal, a career-tying four ground balls, four draws, and a pair of takeaways at Lindenwood. 
• Jarvis has 155 draw controls, fourth in the record book, and is sixth with 3.03 draws per game. 
• She also has 83 points on 69 goals and 14 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.

ALL SMILES

• Freshman Alison Smiley has had a great start to her collegiate career, tying for the team lead with nine goals and recording a hat trick in two contests. 
• She 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 37 ground balls.

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 just picked up a career-high three ground balls at Xavier and had two GB's at Lindenwood last week.  
• 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.

PATROLLING THE CAGE

• The Titans have one of the youngest netminder units in DI, 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 at Canisius, six at Xavier, and five at Lindenwood, playing 30 minutes in each game.
• 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 has started three of the last four games, and just made a season-high nine stops at Lindenwood, after seven saves in the first half at Canisius and five at Xavier. 
• 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 scored her second goal of the season at Ohio State, and found the back of the net with a GB and a CT at Lindenwood. 
• 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 is coming off a career-high three caused turnovers, with a ground ball, at Lindenwood. She 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 and at Xavier. 
• She currently leads the team with seven caused turnovers and is second with six ground balls. 
• 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.

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.
• She had an assist and a draw control in the season opener against Butler, and scored her first collegiate goal at Xavier. 
• 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.

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. 
• She just tallied a team-high eight draw controls, with her first collegiate point on an assist at Xavier, and leads the team with 22 on the season.
• 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.