Women's Lacrosse 04.15.26

UDM Prepares For First-Ever Meeting With UMass

Women's Lacrosse 04.15.26

UDM Prepares For First-Ever Meeting With UMass

Sophomore Kaitlynn Hedrick and the Titans will meet MAC newcomer UMass on Saturday.

DETROIT (4/15/2026) -- The last home game of the season will have a new foe in Titan Territory as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team faces Massachusetts on Saturday.

The contest is set for Noon at Titan Field and will be broadcast live on the Titans Sports Network on YouTube.

The Titans celebrated Senior Day with a tough loss to Kent State. The game did see senior Alyssa Jarvis reach 100 career points with a goal and two assists, while senior Libby Cuckler tied her career high with four goals for her seventh career hat trick.

Defensively, redshirt freshman Emily Coyne made a season-high 15 saves and picked up a season-best six ground balls.

UMass - the MAC newcomer after the program won 14 straight Atlantic 10 regular season titles - is 12-2 on the year and 5-0 in the league.

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.

VS. UMASS

This is the first career meeting between the two schools as Massachusetts just joined the league after years in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

SERVING SAAC

The women's lacrosse team currently has 13 members serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC): 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.

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.).
"I am incredibly proud to officially welcome our Class of 2026," said Kuehl. "This group represents the next generation of Titan Lacrosse — talented, hardworking student-athletes who embody what it means to compete with pride, discipline, and heart."

GIVE ME LIBERTY

Senior Liberty Cuckler has tallied a goal in nine games after posting a season-high and tying her career-best with four goals and an assist last week against Kent State.
Her last three games have also seen her tally two goals and a helper against Youngstown State and Central Michigan.
She also had two goals and an assist in the season opener against Butler.
She is currently second on the team with 21 points, 15 goals, and six assists.
Cuckler is now tied for seventh in school history with 36 assists and has 94 career points, including 58 goals.
She was named Second Team All-MAC last year after leading 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.

OUR APPLE GIRL

Senior Alyssa Jarvis leads the team with 32 points, 19 goals, 13 assists, and 36 draw controls, and is second on the team with 13 ground balls.
Her 32 points are a career high - besting the 31 she had last season - and the 13 assists are a career best as she came into the year with just eight total.
She currently ranks fifth in the MAC in draw controls per game (3.60), free-position goals per game (.60), and free-position percentage (50.0%), and ninth in assists per game (1.30), and 10th in points per game (3.20).
She got off to a great start in the season opener against Butler, tallying a career-high six points on a career-tying five goals, to go with two draw controls and a ground ball.
She had a goal, two assists, three ground balls, two draws, and a career-best three caused turnovers last week versus Kent State.
Before that, she had a great day with five points on four goals and an assist, seven draws, and two caused turnovers against Youngstown State after posting five points (two goals, three assists), seven draw controls, two ground balls, and a caused turnover at Central Michigan.
Jarvis also posted a career-high three assists, three DC's, and two GB's at Ohio State, a career-tying four ground balls, four draws, and a pair of takeaways at Lindenwood, and seven DC's with a goal and a helper in the MAC opener at Akron.
Jarvis has 182 draw controls, second in the record book, and is fourth with 3.19 draws per game.
She also has 100 points on 79 goals and 21 assists in her career, tied for 14th in goals and 17th in points.
She has earned All-MAC Second Team honors in each of the last two seasons.
Last year, Jarvis set a career high with 30 goals and ranked fourth on the team with 31 points. She also led the team with 61 draw controls, eighth in school history.

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 eight of the last nine games - including every minute in the last three weeks. She just tallied a season-high 15 saves and six ground balls against Kent State, and that was after 11 saves with four ground balls against Youngstown State, and eight stops and four ground balls at CMU.
She had nine saves at Lindenwood, had seven against Eastern Michigan, seven 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 against Butler, 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.
She had a takeaway and a ground ball against Eastern Michigan and a draw and ground ball at Central Michigan.
She also had a takeaway and a GB at Canisius, 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.

ALL SMILES

Freshman Alison Smiley is third on the team with 11 goals and 12 points, recording a hat trick in two contests.
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 and also had two at Ohio State.
In the MAC opener at Akron, she pulled down four draw controls after having none in the previous five games, and had a goal and an assist last week against Kent State.
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.

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.
She tallied two goals against Central Michigan and had a goal and an assist last week against Youngstown State.
In high school, she was All-League as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and was the Team MVP as a junior.

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.
She had a takeaway and two ground balls in each of the last two games against Kent State and Youngstown State after tying her career-best with three caused turnovers and three ground balls at CMU.
In the MAC opener at Akron, she tallied two caused turnovers and a ground ball.
Last year, she was fourth on the team with a career-high 11 caused turnovers and fifth with a career-best 21 ground balls.
In her career, she has 23 caused turnovers and 45 ground balls.

LOOK OUT FOR OUR BANDIT

Redshirt freshman Ava Bandi has been a solid defender after missing last season with an injury.
She has tallied a caused turnover and a ground ball in seven of her 10 games, and leads the team with 10 takeaways and is third with 10 ground balls on the year.
Bandi posted 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 against Butler, and added three more GB's at Canisius.
Bandi also had a caused turnover and a GB against Youngstown State, Eastern Michigan, and at Central Michigan.
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.

I LOVE LUCY

Redshirt freshman Lucy Annese is another defender who missed last season with an injury, but is using that experience to her advantage this year.
She posted her first career caused turnover with a ground ball at Central Michigan and versus YSU, and also had a ground ball at Xavier and at Lindenwood.
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.

D-UP

Freshman Morgan Stamatakis had a standout offensive career in high school, but will now look to help on both sides of the ball.
She is coming off her first multi-point game with a goal and an assist against Kent State.
Stamatakis 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 and played club with Detroit United Lacrosse.

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.
Peck had two ground balls versus Youngstown State, picked up a career-high three at Xavier, had two GBs at Lindenwood, and had a takeaway at CMU.
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.

WELCOME BACK

Former starter Vanessa Evans rejoined the team in the middle of the season and made her debut against Eastern Michigan.
She tied her career high with two caused turnovers at Central Michigan and matched that with two takeaways and two ground balls against YSU, while adding a caused turnover and two GB's versus Kent State.
Evans played in 15 games last year with 11 starts and had a caused turnover and three ground balls.
Overall, she has seen action in 27 games in the red, white and blue in her four years.

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.

THIS IS LACROSSE

The Titans had a couple of former student-athletes join the team for depth in graduate seniors Ashley Bates and Emma Boorman.
Bates is a former soccer player, while Boorman was on the fencing team for a year.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Ava Bandi: D; 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

#23 Emily Coyne: GK; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#8 Libby Cuckler: A; 5' 7"; Senior

#25 Ashleigh Dixon: MF/A; 5' 7"; Junior

#21 Kaitlynn Hedrick: GK; 5' 3"; Sophomore

#11 Angelina Hook: D; 5' 7"; Senior

#2 Alyssa Jarvis: MF; 5' 3"; Senior

#18 Jane Peck: D; 5' 6"; Senior

#20 Avary Sacdalan: A; 5' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

#24 Alison Smiley: A; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Ava Bandi
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman
: D

#23 Emily Coyne
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: GK

#8 Libby Cuckler
: 5' 7"; Senior
: A

#25 Ashleigh Dixon
: 5' 7"; Junior
: MF/A

#21 Kaitlynn Hedrick
: 5' 3"; Sophomore
: GK

#11 Angelina Hook
: 5' 7"; Senior
: D

#2 Alyssa Jarvis
: 5' 3"; Senior
: MF

#18 Jane Peck
: 5' 6"; Senior
: D

#20 Avary Sacdalan
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Freshman
: A

#24 Alison Smiley
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: A