Biography
2015: Played in 13 games with 11 starts and was selected Second Team All-MAAC… Was fifth on the team with 18 points and 11 goals and was fourth handing out seven assists… Third on the team in shots (74) and fourth with 33 shots on goal… Also tied his career high with 13 ground balls and had two caused turnovers… Three of his goals were with the man-up… Started the year with a goal, assist, ground ball and caused turnover in the season-opening win over Ohio State… Had a goal and two assists and tied his career high with three ground balls against Robert Morris… Found the back of the net against No. 16/17 Marquette… Tied his career high again with three GB’s at Bellarmine along with notching a caused turnover and an assist… Fired in two goals against Mercer… Posted his eighth career hat trick with three goals and a season-high four points against Manhattan… Posted a goal at Marist and versus Canisius… Ended his career with a goal, assist and two GB’s in the MAAC Championship semifinals against Quinnipiac… Finished his career fourth in school history in goals (63), fifth in points (89), and tied for seventh in assists (26)… Also third with 16 man-up goals and fourth with eight hat tricks… A four-year member of the Detroit Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and earned the Academic Excellence Award at the Annual Academic & Athletic Awards Dinner, given to student-athletes who have recorded at least a 3.0 GPA for every semester that they have participated in college athletics… A member of the MAAC Academic Honor Roll... Also a three-time MAAC All-Academic Selection… Tabbed preseason All-MAAC by the coaches and Inside Lacrosse.
2014: In the starting line-up in all 14 games and was named Second Team All-MAAC at the end of the year… Tied for second on the team with 18 goals and was fifth with 25 points… Recorded five multi-goal games… Six of his goals were with the man-up as he helped form an extra-man attack that broke North Carolina's 29-year old NCAA record in man-up offense efficiency (.586) with Detroit completely dominating the mark scoring at a .708 clip (34-of-48)… Topped Detroit with 113 shots – fourth in the MAAC – with 49 on goal… Also picked up 13 ground balls and a caused turnover… Started the year with two goals against Mercer and tallied a hat trick with three markers versus Michigan… Found the back of the net twice and had a caused turnover against Bellarmine… Attempted a season-high 12 shots and finished with a season-best four goals and five points against Marquette… Scored Detroit's only man-down goal of the season as he unleashed the game winner from more than 20 yards out with one second on the clock at Wagner... Tallied a pair of goals and assists in a road victory at Monmouth… Scored a goal in the MAAC Championship Semifinals at Marist… Was featured in Lacrosse Magazine in the fall for his shooting as he has been clocked as high as 114MPH… Began the season with selections to the Preseason All-MAAC Team and Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook All-MAAC Preseason Team… A member of the University of Detroit Mercy Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, the MAAC Academic Honor Roll and the All-MAAC Academic Team.
2013: A monster sophomore campaign that saw him earn Second Team All-MAAC and the MAAC’s Most Outstanding Player in the conference championship, where he scored eight goals and had both game winners… UDM’s Offensive Player of the Year, he led the team with 31 goals and tied for first with 40 points, good for third and fourth, respectively, in school history and the most ever by a Titan midfielder… The 31 markers were tied for second in the MAAC, while his 40 points tied him for sixth… His nine assists was fifth on the squad and he also led the Titans with 100 shots, 53 shots on goal, seven man-up goals and three game-winning goals… He was also tied for first in the league in game-winning and man-up goals, while tying for eighth posting 2.67 points per game… Was 56th in the country with 2.07 goals per game, good for second in the MAAC… Had five hat tricks on the year, nine games with three or more points and scored a goal in 14 of 15 games, including 12-straight to end the year… Posted his game winners in three-straight games starting with two goals and a helper in the regular-season finale against Canisius… Tallied three goals in the MAAC Semifinals victory over top-seeded Marist with all three coming in the second half, including the final one that broke a 6-6 tie with 1:25 left in the contest… Posted a career-high five goals – tying his career high with five points - in the MAAC Championship triumph over Siena, with three goals in the second half and the golden marker in overtime… Scored a goal and added an assist in the first round of the NCAA Championship at #2 Notre Dame… Started the season with his first career hat trick finding the back of the net three times at Ohio State… Recorded two goals and two assists at Jacksonville and came back the next week with four goals and five points in a winning effort against Manhattan… Found the back of the net three times at Marquette and picked up a career-high three ground balls at Robert Morris… A member of the Detroit Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the MAAC’s All-Academic Team and Honor Roll.
2012: Saw action in 12 games, while making two starts…Totaled six points on three goals and three assists…Fired 14 shots with seven on goal…Made his collegiate debut versus Michigan and ended the game with a season-high two assists…Scored his first collegiate goal at No. 6 North Carolina…Added a goal at Georgetown and against Siena…Corralled two of his four ground balls at Mercer, where he also attempted a season-best four shots…A member of the UDM Athletic Director’s Honor Roll as well as the MAAC's Academic Honor Roll.
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Prior To Detroit: A four-year varsity letterwinner in lacrosse at Detroit Catholic Central...Was named a Michigan Lacrosse All-American as a senior…He was also a two-time All-State honoree, including first team in 2011, while taking home All-Region and All-Catholic honors as a junior…He helped the Shamrocks to a state runner-up finish in 2010 as well as a No. 3 ranking in the state in 2011… He played club lacrosse for Team Total for three years, helping the squad secure a championship at the Notre Dame camp in 2010... A multi-sport athlete, he starred on the gridiron taking All-League honors as a senior as DCC's starting quarterback…He was also a member of the Shamrocks Division I state championship team as a junior… Off the field, he was a member of the Student Council, Spanish Club, Monogram Club and the Brothers Club.
Personal: Son of Mike and Lisa Birney… His sister, Kylie, is a sophomore on the Detroit women's lacrosse team... His great grandfather and great uncle also attended the University…Has three younger siblings…From the same high school as former Titan teammates John Dwyer, Brad Janer and Chris Nemes…Lists his greatest thrill in sports as playing in the state championship in football and lacrosse…Chose Detroit because of a chance to get a good education and his belief that the lacrosse program is on the rise…A Business major.
