Laurie Merian enters her second year as head coach of the Titans in 2018 and fourth overall as a coach for the squad.
She was voted as the 2018 SoCon Coach of the Year following the conclusion of the regular season with Detroit Mercy sweeping the four major awards in the inaugural season of Southern Conference women's lacrosse.
Merian helped lead the Titans to a share of the inaugural Southern Conference women's lacrosse regular-season championship. It was the first regular-season title in program history. The Titans earned 10 victories in 2018 and had a league-high seven players earned All-Conference accolades, including five players on the First Team. Two more were voted to the five-member All-Freshman Team.
Detroit Mercy ended 2018 as winners in six of its final seven games, including a pair of come-from-behind road wins and a Senior Day 17-9 victory over rival Central Michigan to clinch a share of the regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed in the SoCon Championship.
The Titans broke 11 team records during the 2018 season, including goals (255), goals per game (14.17), assists (113), assists per game (6.28), points (368), points per game (20.44), shots on goal (438) and caused turnovers per game (9.83). Detroit Mercy was No. 21 in the nation in points per game (20.44) and 23rd in NCAA Division I in scoring offense (14.17 goals per game). They were seven times ranked in the top 30 in the country in team statistical categories.
Ten (10) players overall earned All-Conference recognition during her two years of head coach, including six members on the First Team and a Southern Conference-high seven players during the banner season of 2018.
Kaitlyn Wandelt earned SoCon Offensive Player of the Year accolades, leading the league in points (83) and setting a new school record in draw controls (77). Goalkeeper Allison McDonough was voted the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, while midfielder Meredith Moore was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year. In addition, attacker Lexie Kinmond set new school records for assists (39) in a season.
In her four-year tenure on the coaching staff, Detroit Mercy earned 38 wins overall, including three seasons of double-digit victories (10 in 2015, school-record 12 in 2016 and 10 in 2018).
Merian was announced as the head coach of the Titan women's lacrosse program on July 25, 2016. She was the third head coach in the history of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse and takes over after spending the previous two seasons as the assistant coach for the Titans.
Merian led the Titans to six victories in her first season as head coach, including the final four of the 2017 season. Detroit Mercy dethroned the defending ASUN Conference tournament champions, Old Dominion, 14-11 on Senior Day to jump-start a four-game win streak.
As a team, Detroit Mercy surpassed 200 goals for the fifth time in school history and third-straight year with Merian directing the offense. The Titans scored 59 free-position goals, which ranked second in the Titan record books and led the ASUN Conference during the 2017 season. The squad also ranked No. 25 in the NCAA in free-position percentage (46.1) and 38th in the nation in ground balls per game (18.9).
Detroit Mercy had a standout season in the classroom with 23 student-athletes earning a 3.0 GPA or better in 2016-17. The Titans earned the IWLCA Academic Team Squad accolade for the eighth-straight season and received the Team Excellence Award from the Athletic Department for its 3.45 GPA during the academic year. In season, the team GPA was 3.59.
Three Titans earned All-League honors following the 2017 season with attack Lexie Kinmond earning First Team laurels. Midfielder Kelsi Pritchard and defender Emma Mucci were each voted to the Second Team. Five Titans earned IWLCA Academic Honor Roll laurels and Morgan Girardi was voted to the ASUN Conference All-Academic Team.
"Laurie has demonstrated great character since she arrived at Detroit Mercy and I believe she is the right fit to lead our program," Director of Athletics Robert C. Vowels, Jr. said at the time of the hiring. "She has a great rapport with our student-athletes, staff, and the University and has helped our program reach new heights in her time here.
"She brings not only the experience of coaching at Detroit Mercy but experience as a head coach at Alma College, where she helped build a first-year program into a title contender in just three years."
Merian helped coach the Titans to new heights in her first two seasons with the Titans with the team setting school records for victories -- 10 wins in 2015 and 12 triumphs in 2016. The Titans reached the Atlantic Sun Championship game in both seasons, upsetting higher seeds in the tournament in each season.
In 2016, the Titans posted a program-best six-game win streak during the regular season as the squad finished with a 5-3 record in conference play. In the Atlantic Sun Championship tournament, Detroit Mercy earned arguably its biggest win in school history, topping No. 1 Jacksonville in the A-Sun semifinals, handing the Dolphins their first loss in league history. The Titans were just one goal away from the NCAA Tournament using a comeback to tie Old Dominion in the A-Sun title game, but the Titans fell just short, 11-10, in overtime.
Merian, who helped spearhead the offensive attack, coached an offensive unit that was 28th in the nation in scoring offense (11.75 goals per game). The Titans tied a school record with 235 goals, while setting new program records in assists and points. Detroit Mercy also set school records in draw controls and free-position goals, while turning in the best goals against average (10.25) for the second-straight season. Kaitlyn Wandelt, who scored 64 goals and tallied 75 points, was named the Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year, while leading all NCAA Division I freshmen in six different categories. Kylie Birney was named the A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as the IWLCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and three Titans total were selected for All-League Teams.
In her first season as an assistant in 2014-15, Detroit Mercy set school records for wins (10), win percentage (.555) and goals against average (11.89). The Titans finished 5-0 at home during the 2015 campaign and reached the Atlantic Sun Championship game for the third consecutive season. Merian helped coach a team that finished with a balanced attack throughout the season as UDM was 26th in the nation in scoring offense (12.17 goals per game) and 25th in save percentage (46.0). Detroit Mercy finished with its second-most goals (219) in its eighth season as a program.
Individually, goalkeeper Lexie McCormick and attack Tessa Keuler were named MidMajor All-Americans, while four players were named to Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team. Additionally, midfielder Kylie Birney was voted the A-Sun Scholar Athlete of the Year for women's lacrosse. As a team, Detroit Mercy earned IWLCA Academic Honor Squad accoaldes for the sixth-straight season.
Prior to coaching at Detroit Mercy, Merian spent three seasons as the head coach for Alma College, where she built the women’s lacrosse program from the ground up. She was hired in 2011 to start the new sport at the Division III institution and quickly had the Scots rolling registering six wins in the program’s first season of competition in 2012.
She quickly had Alma in the mix for a league championship the following season as the Scots were 15-3 overall and 5-1 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), where they finished in second place in the regular season and advanced to the MIAA championship game. In 2013, Alma was 13-6 on the year and 7-1 in conference play as it once again made it all the way to the conference championship.
In the last two years since the MIAA added lacrosse, 12 Scots earned All-League honors, including one Rookie of the Year accolade. She also coached midfielder Tracy Gallihugh, who finished the 2014 campaign as one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the country leading the conference and ranked second in the nation with 89 goals, while ranking third in Division III with 4.82 goals per game.
Her team was recognized as an IWLCA DIII Academic Squad in 2013 and she also received the Great Scot Award from the President of Alma College.
While at Alma, she was a game contract administrator for all 26 varsity athletic programs and the game administrator for fall and winter athletic competitions. Merian was also a coach with Rapid Lax, a club team in Grand Rapids, and had worked lacrosse camps at Grand Valley State and the Nike Women’s Camp at Berry College in Georgia.
She had an outstanding playing career at Belmont Abbey College, located in Belmont North Carolina, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts in business management and with a marketing concentration in 2010.
A four-year letter winner in lacrosse and a two-year letter winner in soccer, she was tabbed All-Region as a freshman, sophomore and junior. She was All-Conference in all four of her years earning Freshman of the Year from the Coastal Carolina Conference and was also selected to the Rookie All-American Team and Belmont Abbey’s Female Freshmen Athlete of the Year. Merian was named the team captain as a junior and senior and was the team MVP as a sophomore.
She married Dan Merian in the summer of 2014. The couple have a son, Kaiden, and a daughter, Ezra.
Merian Head Coach History
Alma (DIII) -- 6-9
Alma (DIII) -- 15-3
Alma (DIII) -- 13-6
Detroit Mercy (DI) -- 6-11
Detroit Mercy (DI) -- 10-8
Overall -- 50-37
