DETROIT (3/22/2014) -- The Titans are off and running as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will head to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
 
Gameday Central
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through Women's Lacrosse Gameday Central located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos. Women's Lacrosse Gameday Central also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.
 
Where We Left Off
The Titans (1-6, 0-1 Atlantic Sun) played two home games last week and played three games over an eight-day stretch. Another road game was scheduled to make it four games but weather postponed Friday's contest at Niagara. Detroit started the week with a 19-6 demolishing of Delaware State on Tuesday as 12 different players scored. UDM started lighting up the scoreboard 42 seconds into the game on a goal from senior Erin Campbell. The barrage continued as the Titans were up 16-2 on Delaware State heading into half time. Against Duquesne on Sunday, the cold weather made for a few variations of the game that the visiting Dukes were able to escape with a 13-4 win. The game featured a running clock right from the start and after 15 minutes of playing time, both teams, staff, officials, and fans all headed inside for a 10 minute warming period. Both teams returned to their exact positions before the warming period and teams continued to play on. Duquesne went up 7-0 before the first warming period and was up 9-1 heading into halftime en route to the victory.
 
Repeat Offenders
Freshman Jaclyn Snyder scored her second goal in as many games with the first goal Sunday against Duquesne, Her unassisted marker from the free position and the advantage came with 6:34 to play in the first half. Junior Annie Mendoza scored the first of two on the day with 10:24 left in regulation in her fourth straight game with a goal. Sophomore Kylie Birney followed with a goal in her fifth straight game that was also her team-leading 13th of the year. Mendoza recorded her eighth of the year and the final Titan goal for Detroit on Sunday.
 
Points Party
The Titans scored a season-high 19 goals Tuesday against Delaware State from 12 different players. Offensively, sophomore Michaela Schwartz and junior Tessa Keuler led the way with six points each. Schwartz had two goals and a career-high four assists. Keuler had one goal and tied her own career-high and the school single-game record, which she set in 2012 at Howard, with five assists. With five helpers from Keuler, she now has 40 in her career and sits just one behind the UDM all-time career record of 41 held by 2013 senior Zaynib Hamze. Redshirt junior Annie Mendoza had three goals, sophomore Kylie Birney had three and Campbell added two. Freshman Lauren Sharkey had two goals and fellow freshmen Kelsi Pritchard, Julie Castner, Annelise Niermann, and Jaclyn Snyder each had single tallies. Miklain Huntsman added an assist. Senior Vittoria Wallace had one goal and sophomore Jenna Payne added her first goal of the year to round out the Titan scoring.
 
Notable Stats
In other key stats Tuesday vs. Delaware State, Wallace had a game-high five ground balls, sophomore Ally Shrader had four and fellow classmate Morgan Miller grabbed three. Huntsman added three ground balls and Keuler and Birney each had two. Junior Amanda Guthrie, Keuler, and Snyder all had two caused turnovers and Mendoza had five draw controls while Keuler and Wallace each had three. Junior goalkeeper Lexie McCormick played the first half making two saves for the win and sophomore Ty Dykes played the second also making two saves. Against Duquesne, junior defender Morgan Lear and Miller each had a team-high three ground balls. Lear and Miller also had a team-best two caused turnovers each. Birney had a Titan-best three draw controls and senior Vittoria Wallace added two.
 
Freshmen Firsts
With their points Tuesday against Delaware State, Sharkey, Niermann, Snyder, and Hunstman all recorded their first collegiate points. Each of the Titan freshmen on this year's roster all have at least one point on the year led by Pritchard who has seven goals and four assists in seven games.
 
Birney Barrage
Sophomore co-captain Kylie Birney has recorded multi-goal efforts in four of the last six games and has scored in each of the last five games. Birney scored 18 goals as a freshman in 16 games a year ago and now has a 13 on the year through seven games to lead the squad this season. Her brother Mike, a junior on the UDM men's lacrosse team, also has 13 goals in seven games this year and is third on the men's team in scoring.  As a sophomore, he too, stepped up to lead the team with 31 goals and tied for first with 40 points after three goals in his freshman campaign. The 2013 campaign, Birney's sophomore year, for the UDM men ended with the first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and a chance to play at the No. 2 team in the country from Notre Dame.
 
NCAA Stats
The NCAA releases weekly statistical updates on Monday. This week's rankings saw junior goalkeeper Lexie McCormick was seventh in saves per game (10.29) and seventh in total saves with 72. She is also 35th in save percentage with a mark of .456. The Titans as a team were 59th, after being 80 last week, in ground balls with 16 per game and 75th in caused turnovers with six per game.
 
Milestone Markers
Junior Tessa Keuler tied a school record with five assists Tuesday against Delaware State. The previous record was held by Keuler who had five helpers back on April 27, 2012 in Washington, D.C. against Howard in a 21-10 Titan road win in which Keuler had a career-best seven points. Keuler now has 40 career assists which is one behind the school's all-time record held by 2013 senior Zaynib Hamze. Head Coach Laura Maness is one win away from tying and two from becoming UDM's all-time leader in coaching wins.
 
Cincinnati
The Bearcats have won four straight after starting the year dropping three of four games. Two of those came courtesy of top teams as Cincinnati opened the year at Notre Dame (currently ranked No. 6 in the country) falling 25-1 and also played at Florida (currently ranked No. 4 in the country) falling 19-6. The Bearcats have come back with four straight wins downing Winthrop, Presbyterian, Coastal Carolina, and Iona. The last was a 14-5 home win over Iona on March 16. The one win for Cincinnati in the first four games came against Stetson of the Atlantic Sun as the Bearcats made the trip to Deland, Fla. for a 17-5 win.
 
Remembering 2013
The Titans finished 5-14 overall in 2013 but 3-1 in the Atlantic Sun and entered the A-Sun Championship as the No. 2 seed and fell to the top seed Jacksonville in the finals. The Titans swept the A-Sun individual awards handed out on Wednesday as graduated senior Zaynib Hamze was named the Player of the Year and Lexie McCormick garnered the Defensive Player of the Year award. In addition, a total of eight Titans were named to either the All-Conference First or Second Team, three players were named to the All-Conference Freshmen Team.
 
Welcome Back
The Titans return two of its top three scorers in 2014 in senior Erin Campbell (39 goals, 50 points) and junior Tessa Keuler (40 points). Also returning on this year's squad is McCormick and junior defenders Amanda Guthrie (team-high 55 ground balls) and on-the-field leader Taylor Marshall along with sophomore returners Morgan Miller (named to All-Conference Freshman team in 2013) and Ally Shrader (19 games played as a freshman). Also returning will be sophomores Kylie Birney and Michaela Schwartz (both named to All-Conference Freshman team in 2013), Jenna Payne, and Ty Dykes. Redshirt junior Morgan Lear (24 ground balls in 2012) also returns to the squad after missing all of last season with an injury and will be making her debut in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2014.
 
Newcomers
Eight newcomers will join the Titans including graduate student Vittoria Wallace who came to Detroit in January 2014 after transferring from Oakland University where she played club lacrosse her previous three academic years. Redshirt junior Annie Mendoza will also be making her debut in 2014 as a Titan this year after transferring to Detroit for the 2012-13 academic year but missed the entire 2013 season due to an injury. Six freshmen in Miklain Huntsman, Kelsi Pritchard, Julie Castner, Annelise Niermann, Lauren Sharkey, and Jaclyn Snyder will look to make their mark with the Titans in 2014. Assistant Coach Jake Marmul will also make his Titan debut in 2014 after serving in the same role with the University of Notre Dame women's lacrosse team last year.
 
2014 Preseason Coaches Poll
Detroit grabbed 28 points and was pegged to finish second behind Jacksonville and its 36 votes.  Stetson was third with 25 points. Campbell, Guthrie and McCormick were picked to represent the Titans on the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun Team. Lear and Mendoza were named to the A-Sun Newcomer Watch List.
 
Home Cooking
The Titans had just five home games in 2013 compared to 11 on the road. Detroit will look to have a home field advantage in 2014 with nine home contests including an in-state match-up with the first-year varsity program Michigan Wolverines on April 16. With nine home games for the Titans, it will be the largest home schedule Detroit has ever had in its history with the second largest in 2011 when UDM had eight home games.
 
State of the Atlantic Sun
2014 will be the second year of women's lacrosse action in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Conference will feature six teams including Detroit, Elon, Howard, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville, and Stetson. Elon will be leaving the A-Sun for the Colonial Athletic Association in 2015 but Furman, Mercer, and Old Dominion will join the A-Sun. In 2016, the A-Sun will be nine teams strong as Central Michigan will join the league.
 
Next Up
Detroit will return home to the friendly confines of Titan Field for its next match-up as UC Davis comes to Detroit on March 27 for a 2:00 p.m. game.
 
Social Media
Titan fans don't forget to follow #DetroitsCollegeTeam on Twitter and Instagram at @DetroitTitans and remember to like the Titans on Facebook at Detroit Titans. You can also follow the women's lacrosse team on Twitter @DetroitWL and on Facebook at Detroit Titan Women's Lacrosse.