Detroit Mercy Opens #MetroSeries At Oakland

September 26, 2017

 

DETROIT (9/26/2017) -- Only one thing can get hotter than the weather and that is the intensity of two heated rivals going at it as the 2017-18 #MetroSeries will start with the University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team visiting Oakland on Wednesday. 

Game time is set for 7 p.m., at the Oakland Soccer Field in Rochester, Michigan, as both teams are looking for their first Horizon League win as well as the first points of this year's #MetroSeries.
 

After the contest, the Titans will return home to face Northern Kentucky on Saturday at Titan Field at 4 p.m., in a rematch of the 2016 Horizon League Championship semifinals.

Both games will have live stats and will be streamed on ESPN3.
 
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
Date: Sept. 27 Date: Sept. 30
Opponent: at Oakland Opponent: vs. NKU             
Time: 7 p.m. Time: 4 p.m. 
Location: Oakland Soccer Field             Location: Titan Field                              
Tickets: $7, $5 Tickets: Free
Live Stats: Click Here Live Stats: Click Here
Live Video: Click Here Live Video: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @DetroitWSOC  Twitter Updates: @DetroitWSOC

#MetroSeries Is Back
  • Detroit Mercy and Oakland branded an annual rivalry called the Metro Series in 2013, which will be awarded to the school with the most head-to-head victories over the course of the academic year. 
  • Separated by just 26 miles, Detroit Mercy and Oakland are the only Division I schools located in the Metro Detroit area. 
  • The Golden Grizzlies and Titans will compete in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, women's tennis, men's and women's track and field.
  • The winner of each competition will be awarded points, with cross country, golf and track and field being decided by the highest finish at the Horizon League Championships. 
  • The school with the most points at the end of the season will be awarded the Metro Rivalry Cup. In an event of a tie, the school that wins the cup the previous year will retain the cup in an event of a tie.
  • The 2017-18 season marks the fourth year of the Metro Series. 

All-Time In The Horizon League
  • Detroit Mercy is 88-61-17 all-time in Horizon League action and is coming off a year in which the red, white and blue went 6-1-2 in the conference for second place.
  • The Titans have started the HL campaign with a pair of tough 1-0 setbacks at Milwaukee and at home to IUPUI. 

Against Oakland
  • The Titans trail the overall series, 7-12-2, but Detroit Mercy is 3-0-1 in the last three years, with two wins at home and one in the 2014 Horizon League Championship semifinals in overtime. 
  • Detroit Mercy is also 4-2-1 in the last seven games and 5-3-2 since 2008, which came after Oakland had won nine in a row in the series. 
  • The Titans are 2-6-2 on the road in the match-up and 0-2-2 in their last four visits. 
  • The last Titan road win was a 2-1 decision in 2008. 

Against NKU
  • Detroit Mercy is 0-3-1against NKU, which included a 1-1 draw on the road last season and a 3-2 loss in the HL semifinals at Milwaukee, a game where the Titans led 2-0 through almost 60 minutes of play. 

Grizzly Turned Titan
  • Titan Head coach Mike Lupenec is extremely familiar with Oakland as he graduated from OU in 1986. Lupenec and his twin brother, Morris, played soccer for the Pioneers (as they were known then) from 1981-83, with Morris a star forward and Mike a starting defender. 
  • The 1982 team was the first in school history to make the NCAA Division II semifinals. 
  • The following year, OU posted an 18-3 record, the best in school history.

In Michigan We Trust
  • Detroit Mercy likes the home-grown talent of the Great Lakes State as 26 of the 29 Titans hail from Michigan.
  • The three other Titans are from our neighbor to the North with two from Ontario and one from Quebec.

Young Blood
  • The Titans knew they would be young this year and some early season injuries pressed, even more, youngsters into action.
  • Detroit Mercy has started as many as five freshmen in a game this season and have played as many as nine rookies in a game this year.

Marina's Our Keeper
  • Junior Marina Manzo - the reigning HL Goalkeeper of the Year - has been the main netminder all season tallying a Horizon League-best 60 saves with four shutouts on the year. 
  • She also has seven games with five or more saves, including a season-high nine twice at Pittsburgh and at Northern Arizona. The nine saves are just four behind her career mark of 13 at Green Bay in 2014.
  • She currently leads the Horizon League in saves and saves per game (5.45), is tied for third in shutouts and is fourth in save percentage (.833) and goals against average (1.07). 

The Manzo Watch
  • Junior Marina Manzo is now fourth in school history with 239 saves as she is trying to catch Nikki Thomas (1993-96) for third at 289. 
  • Manzo is also second in goals against average (1.18), third in save percentage (.794), fourth with 16 shutouts, fifth in wins (23) and seventh in saves per game (4.51). 

DeLuca Does It All
  • Offense, defense, set pieces, corners, there is nothing that senior Rachel DeLuca can't do on the field for the Titans.
  • Last season, she attempted nearly every corner and set piece for the team, and she is off to that same start with all 27 corners on the year.
  • The reigning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year had three goals and four assists last year and is currently leading the offense with 11 points on a career-high five assists and three goals.
  • She is tied for second in the conference in assists and is tied for seventh in points. The defender also leads the team with 25 shots, eighth in the HL. 

4 Goals & Counting
  • Freshman Rachel Russo - who played just 27 minutes at Milwaukee and missed the game against Eastern Michigan due to an undisclosed injury - leads the team with four goals and is second on the team with eight points. 
  • She is currently tied for ninth in the HL in goals. 

Drayton Back In The Scoring Column 
  • Senior Phylisha Drayton - All-Horizon League Second team in 2016 - notched a goal and an assist against Eastern Michigan, ending a six-game stretch where she did not record a point.
  • Drayton now has two goals and two assists on the season and 11 goals with three helpers in her career for 25 points. 

Doyle Rules
  • Freshman Kelli Doyle has seen her production increase throughout the season as she knocked in her third goal of the year against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 17. 
  • She did not record a shot in her first two games and then missed the contest at Pittsburgh due to an injury, but she now has three goals in her last eight games. 

A Long Carroll  
  • Junior Caitlin Carroll waited a long time before scoring her first collegiate goal against Lawrence Tech. She sat out last season after playing at Dayton in 2014 and Marquette in 2015. 
  • With the Flyers, she played in 14 games with two starts for a team that won the Atlantic 10 championship. With the Golden Eagles, she saw action in five games and had one shot.

 

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