MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's officially kicks off their 2018 season at home this weekend beginning Friday with Incarnate Word followed by a Sunday matinee contest against Detroit Mercy.

Friday's season opener begins at 4 p.m. while Sunday's match begins at 1 p.m. Links for live stats and streams can be found on the Gaels' schedule page.

The Gaels have seen game action twice already this year in challenging exhibition matches against Stanford and Cal. The Cardinal will enter the 2018 season as the No. 1 team in the nation while Cal sits just outside the top-25 in the US Coaches Poll.

ABOUT INCARNATE WORD
The Cardinals are coming off a 5-11-1 season with a 3-7 WAC record. UIW will be with a new head coach this season, Chris Fidler, who is serving in an interim role after spending five years as an assistant coach. The Gaels and Cardinals have never met before as UIW was a Div. II program up until 2014.

UIW outshot their opponents 201-190 last year despite averaging only .76 goals per contest. Marjan Gamsjager led the Cardinals' offense in 2017 with three goals and was named an All-WAC Honorable Mention as a result. Brendan Brown started all 17 games in net for Incarnate Word and made 53 saves to his credit.

ABOUT DETROIT MERCY
Detroit Mercy will square up with Saint Mary's on Sunday following their season opener against Cal two days prior. It will be the Titans second visit to Moraga in as many years as the two teams played last season at Saint Mary's Stadium, resulting in a 3-3 draw. Sunday's match will also be just the second time the programs have met.

The Titans ended 2017 with a 7-8-4 record and a 4-4-1 Horizon League mark. Similar to the Gaels, Detroit Mercy has a young team with only two seniors on the roster and a large freshmen constituency. The team lost their top three scorers in Tyler Moorman, Spiro Pliakos, and Dalton Amez, to graduation in the spring who contributed 20 of the team's 27 goals last season. The Titans will also be without their top keeper, Robbie Blackwell, who graduated after starting 16 games for the team as a redshirt senior.

Detroit Mercy played Cincinnati and NAIA-member Grace College earlier this fall in exhibition contests. The Titans fell to the Bearcats 2-0 before defeating Grace 3-1.

QUICK FACTS

• Saint Mary's is 2-2-2 in their previous six season-openers.
• The Gaels were undefeated at home last season at 3-0-4.
• SMC is 2-0-2 in their past four games, including a 3-2 win over Portland in the 2017 season finale.