BOX SCORE

Mount Pleasant, Mich. -- The Titans started the 2011 regular season against Central Michigan Friday afternoon dropping a close 1-0 decision. Sophomore goalkeeper Nora Abolins (Demorestville, ON/Centennial) made five saves on the day, including many timely saves, that kept Detroit in the game until the final horn.

The Chippewas (1-0) scored the only tally at 27:35 and would hold on for the victory as CMU held a 12-5 overall shooting advantage over Detroit (0-1).

CMU held a 6-1 shooting advantage in the first half including four shots on goal as Abolins made three first half saves.

“First of all I felt that for our first game going against Central Michigan, a team that's been in the NCAA tournament the last two years and there's a reason why with how they play, that we played well,” said head coach Mike Lupenec.

Detroit started out a little timid in the first five minutes of the new season. After the flow of the game picked up, the Titans started to push the defensive limits of CMU with opportunities on free kicks deep in the Chippewa zone. The best chance came just under 25 minutes left in the first half as senior Lauren Roffey (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) took a shot off a free kick from junior Sarah Dzuris (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester Hills). Roffey took the ricochet from about 12 yards out and fired a shot that was blocked by the defender.

“I think when you play a team like that, you have to win 50-50 air battles and your speed of play and possession has to be better. If you're running around and chasing them and giving them opportunities, bad things are going to happen. We had a bad clearance, and that resulted in a goal,” added Lupenec.

After the break, the Titans began to generate more scoring opportunities with four shots. The game was kept close until the end as Abolins made several key stops including two under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Juniors Janae Paveglio (Flushing, MI/Flushing) and Rebekah Dornbos (Midland, MI/Midland) were two players Lupenec thought performed well in today's game.

“I think in the second half we did a better job of keeping the ball and creating scoring opportunities along with the girls being more relaxed. I think Janae and Rebekah did a great job in the back today. Defensively, whenever you give up one goal, in addition to Nora playing well, it shows that our back line played very well,” added Lupenec.

Detroit will next be in action this Tuesday as the Titans will open the home portion of the 2011 schedule as Eastern Michigan will head to Titan field for a match set for 4:00 p.m.