As the men's lacrosse season opener inches closer, DetroitTitans.com will have daily position previews for the upcoming 2011 season.

Goalies Preview

DETROIT -- Detroit went into last season extremely young in the face-off position with two freshmen primarily taking most of the battles. While both sophomores Brandon Davenport (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI/GP North) and Tyler Corcoran (South Lyon, MI/South Lyon) held their own as rookies, the group will be much improved with a year under their belt as well as with the return of sophomore Danny Preston (Hempstead, NY/Hempstead), who missed last season due to injury.

“Face-offs is definitely something that we need to improve and I think that just the experience the guys have from last year will help,” said head coach Matt Holtz. “Last year, I think a lot of it was a mental issue in that we had young kids who were trying to get ahead and we jumped the whistle a lot. With the new rules on face-offs, there is a set call now and the new mechanics, it will be real interesting to see how it all plays out.”

Davenport took most of the face-offs a year ago winning half of his 224 attempts, while racking up a team-best 54 ground balls. He won double-digit face-offs five times last season, including a school record 16 at Robert Morris. He notched his lone goal of the year right after winning the face-off at Manhattan, streaking down field to put one past the goalie.

Corcoran was 34-of-95 last season with a season-high seven wins in the opener against Bellarmine to go with six at Lehigh and a 5-3 record at Yale. He picked up 12 ground balls and also showed his athletic ability by scoring a goal right off a face-off victory against the Mountain Hawks.

“It has been a battle in camp between Brandon and Tyler and right now, both guys are playing well which is good for us. They both are very similar in style and in what they are trying to do,” added Holtz.

The return of Preston will give Detroit another option at the position, especially from a change of pace perspective. Preston tallied 84 victories as a freshman in 2009, recording double-digit wins on five occasions. His best effort came in the first game in Titan history as he was 11-7 at Ohio State. He also posted a season-high 13 twice, against Manhattan and at Presbyterian.

“Getting Danny back will be real big for us,” said Holtz. “Unfortunately, one of the side effects of Danny's injury was that he lost a lot of weight and his biggest strength was his size and strength so he is working hard at getting that back. When he does, that will give us another guy who we know can do a good job and be a different type of player at the position.”

Two other Titans will also get some time in the center in senior Matt Gregson (Flint, MI/Powers Catholic) and junior Brad Janer (Novi, MI/Detroit Catholic Central). Gregson has 41 face-off victories in his two years in Detroit, including winning 7-of-8 at North Carolina and 8-of-9 at Quinnipiac in 2009. Janer has registered four wins in his 13 attempts in two seasons.