MILWAUKEE (11/1/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's soccer team's run to a conference championship came to an end on Thursday as the Titans dropped a 2-1 decision to Cleveland State in the Horizon League Championship semifinals.

Detroit Mercy (9-8-3, 4-4-1 HL) came into the game as the fifth seed and upended the fourth-seeded Wright State Raiders in the quarterfinals before falling to the No. 2 seed Cleveland State (11-6-1, 6-2-1 HL) at Englemann Stadium in Milwaukee. 

The Titans trailed 2-0 at the break but got on the board in the 54th minute as senior goalie Marina Manzo fed a ball in the box off a free kick and senior Caitlin Carroll was able to gain control and fire a shot that beat the keeper. 

Detroit Mercy had a couple of more opportunities to knot it up, but just could not find the equalizer. 

Manzo made eight saves on the day and ended the year with 113, third most in school history. Manzo and the Titan defense had now allowed a goal in a school-record 611 minutes until the CSU score 20 minutes into the contest. 

The Titans were outshot, 17-16, but had a 9-7 advantage in the second half. 

The game also marked the final match for the nine-member senior class in Carroll, Manzo, Carly Fiorido, Elizabeth Gonser, Sarah Hirschmann, Molly Kane, Kelsey Mendez, Chloe Ricciardi and Aubree Snow.

First Half: 

• Cleveland State had four shots and three corner kicks in the first 20 minutes
• Manzo made her first save in the seventh minute and another in the 14th
• The Vikings scored their first goal on a corner kick that deflected off a Titan defender and into the net at 20:32
• The Titans first shot was by freshman Julie Ann Piechocki in the 25th minute, but it was turned away setting up a corner kick
• On the corner, the Titans had a shot blocked before Piechocki sent one high
• On its next offensive possession, Fiorido had a shot that was saved at 29:53
• Manzo made her second stop at 31:34
• CSU scored another goal at 39:05 for a 2-0 lead
• Detroit Mercy had one final attempt at a score, but freshman Nasreen Kobeissi's shot was wide in the 43rd minute

Second Half:

• The Titans had an opportunity as a foul set up a free kick, which Manzo sent to the net that was saved just two minutes in
• Manzo then made back-to-back saves at 47:55 and 48:39
• Detroit Mercy had two shots go wide by Piechocki and Fiorido in the 52nd minute
• Manzo had another boot that was stopped in the box at 53:40, but the rebounds was put in by Carroll at 53:42 to cut the deficit to 2-1
• It looked like Cleveland State would extend its lead as a foul set up a direct kick just outside the box, but the shot hit the crossbar and the Titan defense cleared it out in the 70th minute
• Detroit Mercy had another attempt as a foul set up a long Manzo free kick into the box and among a crowd of players, Kobeissi was able to come up with an attempt that a diving Vikings' goalie saved
• Cleveland State had another chance to extend its lead as a cross in the box lead to a one-on-one situation just in front of the net, but Manzo was able to knock it away at 78:59
• The Titans had a corner kick and that resulted in a shot from Carroll that was blocked in the box in the 81st minute

Game Notes:

• Detroit Mercy still leads the all-time series, 10-5-2
• The Titans are 20-20-1 all-time in the conference tournament and have made 16 trips to the Horizon League Championship semifinals, reaching the finals five times overall (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014)
• The only other time these teams met in the postseason was in 2010, a 2-1 Titan win as the sixth-seeded Titans upset the third-seeded Vikings in Cleveland in the quarterfinals
• The Titans came into the game riding a six-match winning streak and all by shutout, not allowing a goal in 611 minutes before CSU scored in the first half
• Manzo finished the season with a career-high 113 – third in school history – and nine shutouts – tied for first in school record book
• She ended her career second in school history with 378 saves, trailing only Alisson Dube's 429, as well as first in school history in shutouts (26), second in goals-against average (1.18) and save percentage (.797), third in wins (33) and sixth in saves per game (4.68)
• Manzo came into the year not ever recording a point, but she had two assists on the season in this game and against Madonna
• Fiorido ended the year with a career-high five goals and 11 points, finished her career with six goals and three assists while started all 74 games she saw action in
• Molly Kane ended her career starting all 72 games she played in with four goals and an assist
• Piechocki's five goals on the year are the most by a Titan freshman since Kaitlyn Quarrell '14 had six in 2010, while her six assists and 16 points were the most by a Titan since Tanya Tiselj had 10 helpers and 20 points in 1999
• Carroll's only other Titan goal was against Lawrence Tech last season

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