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DETROIT (8/21/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team enters its 22nd season with an experienced team, returning eight starters from a 2013 squad that earned 11 victories and reached the Horizon League Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight season.

Detroit features five seniors and five juniors as well as a strong sophomore class. UDM head coach Mike Lupenec, who has been at the helm for all 22 seasons in Detroit, and the Titans will look to be in the hunt for a Horizon League championship with a strong group of upperclassmen.

"We look to our sophomores, juniors and seniors to win championships for us and I think we have that," Lupenec said. "The girls have worked hard, but I think like everything else, it comes down to being healthy. You can be as good as the other team, but you need a little bit of luck too."

UDM has 16 letterwinners overall returning and adds four freshmen to the pitch for the 2014 season. Detroit also returns its entire back line and goalkeeper from a team that had eight shutouts and allowed just 23 goals in 20 games last season. The Titans also begin the regular season with a 12-game winning streak at home.

Detroit opens the season Friday at the University of Toledo for a 5 p.m. match.

Defensive/Goalkeeper Preview

The Titans return all four defenders, including a trio of seniors, for the 2014 season as well as junior goalkeeper Martha Dunbar.

Senior defenders Alyssa Lotito, Victoria Sollestre and Abbey Troy, who combined for 50 starts last season, all return for the Titans.

Lotito led the team and conference in assists with 11 last season on her way to earning Second Team All-Hozion League honors. Sollestre has made 42 starts for the Titans on the back line throughout her career, while Troy started in 10 games, playing 16 overall for the Titans in 2013.

Sophomore defender Kaitlan Vossen is the fourth starter on the defensive end to return, having played in all 20 games, starting 16 matches, for the Titans as a freshman in 2013. The group of four starters combined to start in 66 games for Detroit last season.

Helping provide depth on the defensive side are juniors Tatum Zurawski and Ellyn Nedwicki.

Dunbar started 18 of the team's 20 games in net last year and recorded eight shutouts for the Titans. That mark put her in elite company on the all-time goalkeeper list, ranking her in a tie for third for a single season. She also became the fifth goalkeeper in program history to notch 10 victories in a season. She finished the 2013 season with a goals against average of 1.17 and a save percentage of 78.8 percent.

Pushing Dunbar at the goalkeeper spot will be incoming freshman Marina Manzo.

"Manzo is going to compete with Martha right away," Lupenec said about his freshman keeper.

Midfield/Offensive Preview

Up top, the Titans return two of their top three goal scorers in senior midfielder Alyssa Riley and junior midfielder Jennifer Borawski. Riley led Detroit in goals (six) and points (16) last season, while Borawski posted five goals for Detroit in 2013.

For her career, Riley has started all 56 games she has played for the Titans. A two-time All-Horizon League First Team player, Riley has recorded totals of 12 goals and 11 assists for a total of 37 points. Entering the 2014 season, Riley is on the cusp of entering the top 10 in program history in goals, assists and points.

Borawski started 19 of the 20 games last season and tied for second on the squad with five goals. She also finished fourth in shots with 25 and second in shots on goal with 14.

Senior midfielder Haley Burtraw also returns, having started 19 games last season. For her career, Burtraw has six goals and two assists in 36 starts in two seasons with UDM.

Several other players will get a shot to assist in the offensive efforts, including junior Sara Zawacki (one goal, three assists in 2013) and sophomores Anna Mindling, Carley Rice, Aubrey Formica, Mary LeAnnais and Kristen Tobin. Mindling and Rice played in all 20 games as freshmen, with Mindling scoring two goals and Rice assisting on two goals. Formica and Tobin each had one goal and one assist and combined for six starts last year.

"We have to rely on some of our sophomore players and our upperclassmen to create more offense for us," Lupenec said. "We'll rely on those guys to score goals for us. This year, we changed things up a little bit in regards to our system offensively. We are different offensively than we are defensively. We are trying to get more players forward. It's all dependent on keeping the ball more than we did last year. We'll try to play less defense and create more offensively."

Newcomers that will provide depth are freshmen Phylisha Drayton, Suzie Redick and Paige Roberts.

Conference Preview

Detroit was selected to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll, behind league favorite Milwaukee, Oakland and Wright State. Milwaukee has earned six straight Horizon League Tournament championships and has been crowned the regular season conference champions for the past 14 seasons. The conference, however, seems to be loaded with talented teams.

"Being picked fourth, it shows that coaches know we have a lot of players coming back and that'll we'll be a competitive team like we are every year," Lupenec said. "I think every team has a chance to win this conference. It's that close. Last year I think we were higher, but that didn't matter. I like where we are at, because we are respected but we're not expected to win it. Overall, I think we have a good class."

The Titans open the conference schedule on Sept. 24 at home against Cleveland State. UDM has home contests against CSU, Youngstown State, Oakland and Milwaukee and plays road league matches against Wright State, UIC, Green Bay and Valparaiso.

"It's going to come down to scoring goals and controlling the ball," Lupenec said. "Defensively, I think we are fine. I think the girls have worked hard during the preseason and we're healthy heading into the first game. I think it's going to be a process. Some of the sophomores are getting a lot of minutes and they'll be 90-minute players this year and it'll be different for them. But we have three seniors in our back line with a goaltender that's been there before."