Men's Soccer Preview Part 7: Detroit

Aug. 31, 2005

Coming off their first championship game appearance since 1999, the Detroit Titans will be looking for bigger things in 2005. 14th-year head coach Morris Lupenec has nine starters returning this season, including three out of four All-Horizon League team members. These men, along with some key new recruits will help the team compete for the Horizon League title and the program's second NCAA berth.

Goaltenders
After a stellar freshman season which earned him a spot on the Horizon League's All-Newcomer Team, Sasha Boskovic returns to man the Titans' net. He started all 20 games last season recording six shutouts and 76 saves for a 1.28 goals against average.

To compete with Boskovic this year is freshman walk-on Richard Fatyma. He was an All-Catholic League Second Team member last year at U-D Jesuit High School.

Defense
Along with the center midfield, defense is going to be the key to success for the Titans this season. Three starters return from last year's squad. Junior Jason Massoglia, along with seniors Aaron Smith and David Lepore will headline this strong unit.

Massoglia scored five goals last season, tops among defensemen, and third highest total on the team. He was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team in 2004. Smith has the chance to become a dominant defender. In his second year of starting he recorded three assists in 17 appearances. With 57 career games under his belt, Lepore will begin his fourth year of starting on the backline.

Also looking for playing time on the Titans defense will be veteran Alex Kawalit, and newcomers Duane Hopkins and Tristan Horvath.. Kawalit, a junior, will compete for a starting spot after appearing in all 20 games a season ago. Freshman Hopkins and Horvath also have the chance to see playing time immediately. Horvath was named to the 2004 Division II Dream Team member by Michigansoccer.net after his senior season at Bloomfield Hills Lahser.

Midfielders
A mix of experience and youth will be featured in the 2005 Titan midfield. After being named a member of the 2004 All-Horizon League First Team, junior Vahid Assadpour returns to anchor the unit. He led the team with six assists last season, and was fourth with four goals. The other returning starter is senior Chris Fudge. He had a goal and four assists while appearing in 19 games in 2004, which won him a spot on the All-Newcomer team.

Joining them on the starting midfield line is Titans' star recruit, freshman Stephen LaGore. One of Michigan's top high school players a year ago, the Ann Arbor Pioneer graduate is expected to help ease the loss of leading goal scorer Ablaye Camara. Also looking to compete for playing time and a starting midfield spot are juniors Alex Popescu and Michael De Simone. Popescu has two years playing experience, while De Simone got some starting time on the midfield last season. Hopkins could see some time here as well as on defense.

Forwards
The bulk of what the Titans lost from last years' 14-6-0 squad comes from the frontline. However one-half of Detroit's two man scoring punch from last season does return in junior Andrew Ornoch; Ornoch led the team with 12 goals and was honored as an All-Horizon League Second Team selection for his efforts. He now has 16 career goals, and will be looking to break into the top-10 on the Titan overall career list this season.

Several newcomers and midfielders will be competing to join Ornoch on the frontline. To ease the loss of the 11 goals scored by Camara, the Titans have freshman Christian King sophomore transfer Nick Servedio. Both have the potential to earn some playing time and/or a starting spot.

Schedule
The 2005 schedule features several non-conference challenges to help prepare the Titans for a competitive Horizon League season. Overall Detroit will compete in four different states (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) and face off against two teams who competed in the NCAA tournament a year ago (Michigan and Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

The Titans open the season in Ann Arbor Sept. 1 against Michigan. That will be followed by two invitational tournaments in Chicago. After a match with Oakland up in Rochester, the Titans open both their home season and the Horizon League season with a September 23 match against Wright State. Detroit also welcomes Cleveland State, Loyola, Oral Roberts, Butler and Western Michigan to Titan Field this season. The rematch with Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which cost the Titans a shot at the NCAA tournament last season, occurs October 2 in Milwaukee. The top four teams in the Horizon League standings will host quarterfinal games on November 5. The semifinals and championship game will be held Nov. 11-13 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

Story Provided by Mike Roth, Detroit Sports Information