Upcoming in Gray Wolves Soccer: Lourdes will take to the road this week as it travels to Cleary and Aquinas to continue Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play. The Gray Wolves travel to Cleary on Wednesday afternoon before wrapping up the week with a trip to Aquinas on Saturday afternoon.

Head Coach Barry Spitzer: In his fourth season on the Lourdes bench, Barry Spitzer has a 20-31-5 (.402) record at the helm of the Gray Wolves as well as a men's soccer collegiate head coach at four-year programs.  He is the only head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Series Notes: Lourdes holds a 2-1 advantage over Cleary in the all-time series between the two schools. The Gray Wolves defeated the Cougars in 2015 and 2016 before dropping a tight 2-1 decision in overtime last season. The two teams meet this season for the first time as conference opponents as Cleary joined the WHAC this season. The all-time series between Aquinas and Lourdes is deadlocked at 1-1-1. After tying the Saints in 2015 and falling to them in 2016, Lourdes edged Aquinas 2-1 in 2017.

Wrapping Up Last Week: The Gray Wolves had a two-game home stand last week and played to a 0-0 draw with Indiana Tech in a defensive showdown. Lourdes' second half comeback bid against Rochester (Mich.) fell short in overtime as the Gray Wolves fell 3-2. 

Scouting Cleary: Cleary enters the contest after dropping its last two contests to UNOH and UM-Dearborn. The Cougars have saw eight athletes tally a goal through seven games this season. Sophomore Benjamin Delage has a team-best four goals entering this week. The sophomore ranks second in the conference, scoring 0.57 goals per contest. He is also tied for sixth in the conference with four goals. Senior Evan Imms and junior Johnny Cabral are currently tied for first place on the team with two assists. Defensively, senior Marc Hodges leads the way with a team-best 18 saves and boasts a 2.26 GAA.

Scouting Aquinas: Aquinas enters the week searching for its first victory of the 2018 campaign. The Saints travel to Lawrence Tech this week before hosting Lourdes on Saturday. Freshman Conner Lund currently leads the team with two goals, while three other Saints have tallied a goal each. 
Junior Franco Calabrese and freshman Jackson Moore share the team lead with one helper each. Sophomores Theoren Collison and Joseph Liblong have split time between the posts. Theoren Collison leads the way with 36 saves, while Joseph Liblong's 2.43 GAA leads the team.

Extra Soccer: Last week's schedule saw both contests head into overtime for Lourdes. The Gray Wolves and Indiana Tech played through two overtime periods to end in a scoreless 0-0 tie. Despite being outshot 21-7 in the contest, the Lourdes defense held strong to force the draw. After falling behind 2-0 to Rochester on Saturday evening, Lourdes scored two second half goals to force an overtime period before falling 3-2.

All-Time In The WHAC: Lourdes is looking for its 11th victory in the WHAC on Wednesday afternoon in its matchup with Cleary. The Gray Wolves own a 10-22-4 record in WHAC play since the 2015 season. Lourdes has appeared in the WHAC Tournament once in the programs history, falling 1-0 to Marygrove.

First Career Goal: Freshman Maxim Van der Auwera tallied his first career goal in Lourdes contest against Rochester on Saturday evening. 

Familiar Face In Goal: Freshman Ali Chokr has now notched four consecutive complete games as the Gray Wolf netminder after splitting time in the goal in the teams first three contests. Chokr set a school-record with 12 saves in Lourdes contest at Saint Francis (Ill.) and has been the anchor in the goal since that contest.

Experience On The Pitch: Riley Hogan ranks third all-time on the school's all-time matches played list with 41 appearances for the Gray Wolves. He is also third in school history with 34 career starts. 

In the Record Book: Reece Riccardi is tied for fourth in Lourdes history with his seven career goals. He also ranks sixth all-time with 16 career points. Chuk Moses is currently tied for eighth on the all-time assists list with four. Ali Chokr's 41 saves this season is currently the third best mark in program history in a single season. Ali Chokr also ranks second all-time at Lourdes for career saves.

Captain: Reece Riccardi will serve as the Gray Wolves lone captain for the 2018 season. This will mark his first season in a leadership role for the Gray Wolves.

This And That: This season, 27 players have logged minutes on the pitch , while nine athletes have tallied at least one point for the Gray Wolf offense.