Celebration woooo. Photo by Jim Davenport
The Detroit-Mercy Titans weren’t at full strength in 2011. Sophomores Joel Matthews and Tyler Staruch (Brighton) sat out the year to work on their performance in the classroom, and both redshirted the season.
It’s notable what Detroit did in 2011 without the talented pair, who combined for 60 goals and 16 assists (Matthews led the team in scoring with 37 and 11, for 48 total points) during the 2010 season. The Titans managed to finish the regular season with a 5-9 record, but were 4-2 in conference, and were one game – in the conference championship – away from making the NCAA tournament in their third year of existence.
Matthews and Staruch will return to the active lineup this season, a huge shot in the arm to a Titans offense that rounded into form by the end of the season (although it ranked only 42nd-best of 61 teams on the year).
Other positive news? Our UDM insiders report that Shayne Adams is ahead of schedule with his rehab for a knee injury that he suffered in the MAAC tournament. Adams was the MAAC rookie of the year in 2011, and a huge part of the reason the Titans’ offense excelled despite the losses of Matthews and Staruch. He has been cleared for partial contact, and with a regular timeline, should be in the starting lineup come Feb. 4 when the Titans open their season against Delaware.
Season preview content forthcoming during January.