Sacred Heart (7-2-0, 2-0-0 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's (4-6-0, 1-1-0)
WHEN: Fri, Oct. 8, 2010, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.

SERIES INFORMATION: Mount St. Mary's leads 4-3-4
LAST MEETING: Sacred Heart (1-0) 10-4-09
FIRST MEETING: Mount (2-1) 9-24-99
LAST MOUNT WIN: (2-1) 10-27-06
IN EMMITSBURG: Mount leads 2-1-2

opening kick... Friday's Northeast Conference home opener between Mount St. Mary's and Sacred Heart marks the 12th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1999 season. The Pioneers have won the last three meetings to trim the Mount's lead in the series to 4-3-4. The Mount's last win in the matchup was a 2-1 decision in 2006.

about the pioneers... Sacred Heart comes into the contest 7-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 in Northeast Conference play after extending its winning streak to three games with a 2-0 win against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Sunday. The Pioneers are 5-0 in Fairfield, but 2-2 on the road this season. Sophomore M Marcello Castro and sophomore F Brian Francolini pace the team with three goals and one assist for seven points. Senior M Mario Mililli has found the twine twice this season while sophomore F Justin Brewer and graduate student F Patrick Daka each have one tally and two assists for four points. Junior GK Alex Fait has 29 saves, a 1.17 goals against average and a .725 save percentage.

last time we met... Sacred Heart defeated Mount St. Mary's 1-0 on Oct. 4, 2009. Chris Davis made four saves for the Mount in the loss. Jesper Frediksson scored the Pioneers' tally while Alex Fait made 10 stops in the winning effort.

GAME 12: Farleigh Dickinson (5-4-0, 1-1-0 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's (4-6-0, 1-1-0 NEC)
WHEN: Sun, Oct. 10, 2010, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.

SERIES INFORMATION: Fairleigh Dickinson leads 13-7-3
LAST MEETING: Mount (2-1) 10-29-06
FIRST MEETING: FDU (6-1) 10-22-89
LAST FDU WIN: (7-2) 11-16-08
IN EMMITSBURG: FDU leads 4-3-2

opening kick... Sunday's match between Mount St. Mary's and Fairleigh Dickinson marks 24 meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1989 season. The Knights lead the series 13-7-3, but the Mount has won three of the last four regular season meetings including a 2-1 decision in 2009. Fairleigh Dickinson's last win in the matchup was a 7-2 decision in the Northeast Conference Championship Game in 2008.

about the knights... Fairleigh Dickinson, who faces Monmouth on Friday, comes into the weekend 5-4-0 and 1-1-0 in Northeast Conference play after falling 1-0 to Long Island on Sunday. Sophomore M Dominic Reinold leads the Knights with five goals and four assists for 14 points. Senior M Samson Malijani ranks second on the squad with three goals and one assist for seven points while freshman F Jonathan Gonzalez has a goal and an assist for three points. Freshman GK Jacob Lissek has 24 saves, a 0.92 goals against average and a .828 save percentage.

last time we met... Eric Detzel scored two goals, including the game-winner in the 37th minute to lead Mount St. Mary's past Fairleigh Dickinson 2-1 on Oct. 4. Scott Phinith dished out an assist on Detzel's first goal for the Mount while Chris Davis made four saves in the winning effort. Majdi Zaineh made three saves for the Knights (3-6-0, 0-1-0 NEC) while the squad scored its lone tally on an own goal.

last time out... Quinnipiac scored twice in the second half to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 2-1 on Sunday. Alex Ockford notched his first collegiate goal off senior Scott Phinith's first point of the season for the Mount in the loss. Chris Davis made three saves for the Mountaineers.

next on tap... After the two games at Waldron Family Stadium, the Mount heads to Brooklyn, N.Y., to battle St. Francis (N.Y.) (Oct. 15) and Long Island Oct. 17). After the trip to Brooklyn, the squad will have three of its final four games at home.

eight goals through 10... Junior Chris Wheeler has the second most goals through 10 games in Mount Division I history. Even Hytten is the only play to top that mark after he posted nine goals in 10 games in 1990.

in the nation... Junior Chris Wheeler is second in goals in the nation with eight tallies. The junior also ranks sixth in points (16), ninth in goals per game (0.80) and 24th in points per game (1.60). Senior Eric Detzel stands 13th in Division I in assists (5) and 24th in assists per game (0.50). As a a team, the Mount is 29th in goals (17) and 46th in goals per game (1.70).

statistics in the league... Mount St. Mary's ranks second in the Northeast Conference in goals (17) and points (44) while ranking fourth in goals per game (1.70), fourth in assists (10) and fourth assist per game (1.00). Junior Chris Wheeler leads the league in shots (42), shots per game (4.20), points (16), goals (8) and goals per game (0.80). The junior is also third in points per game (1.60). Senior Eric Detzel is first in assists (5), second in assists per game (0.50), seventh in points (9) and 10th in points per game (0.90)

in the league: The Mount is 72-83-27 in Northeast Conference matches. The Mountaineers are 34-46-15 under head coach Rob Ryerson in the NEC and 7-2-2 in the conference opener, including back-to-back NEC opening wins in 2008 and 2009. The Mount is 11-9-1 in the last three seasons in the league.

preseason poll... The Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team has been picked fifth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Monmouth, who claimed the last four league regular season titles and the 2009 NEC Tournament crown, has been unanimously selected as the preseason favorite in 2010. Quinnipiac, Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis (N.Y.) were picked 2-3-4 while the Mount, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis (Pa.), Long Island, Central Connecticut State, Robert Morris and Bryant rounded out the 11-team poll.

komlan honored... Koudzo Komlan was named the adidas/Northeast Conference Co-Rookie of the Week for the week of Sept. 6-12. It is the sophomore first conference honor. The sophomore defender helped the Mount to its second-straight win and first-ever decision over George Washington on Sept.11. Komlan took a long ball and beat the goalkeeper and then popped the ball over the netminder's head at 60:57 mark to break a 3-all standstill and propel Mount St. Mary's to a 4-3 win against the Colonials. It was the sophomore's first collegiate goal.

aye, aye captain... Seniors Chris Davis and Eric Detzel will serve as team captains for the 2010 campaign.

wheeling and dealing... Junior Chris Wheeler has scored 28 goals in his first three seasons in Emmitsburg and now sits in sixth place on the program's all-time career goal list and second place in Division I program history. Next on the all-time list is Brad Heister (29, 1987-90) in fifth place on the all-time list and Duncan Gladwin (32,1996-99) is the all-time leader in goals in the Mount Division I era. The junior also sits in fourth place in points in Division I history with 60, 13 points shy Simon Hodkin (73, 1996-99). He also moved into ninth place on the all-time career points list. Next on list is Don Barry (65, 1987-90). The junior also sits in third place in career shots (198). Next on the list is Barry Stebbins (202, 1973-76). Wheeler tied the program's single-season record for goals in a season with 12 in his freshman year, including becoming the seventh player in Division I history to notch a hat trick when he found the twine against Robert Morris on Oct. 10, 2008.

eric in the middle... Senior Eric Detzel also is moving up on the program's Division I charts. The senior sits in seventh place with 16 goals in Mount Division I history with Don Barry (18, 1988-90) next on the list. Detzel also stands in eighth place with 45 points and sits in eighth place in program history with 14 assists. Next on the assist list is Joe Young (16, 1987-90) in seventh place and next on the Division I point list are Brad Heister (48, 1988-90) and Dan Gaertner (48, 1993-96) in sixth place.

no fins to slow him down... Senior Scott Phinith sits in ninth place for assists in Mount Divisoion I history with 11 assists. Next on the list is Kurt Borel (12, 2001-04) in eighth place. The senior has five goals and 11 assists for 21 points in his career.

the man protecting the pipes... Senior Chris Davis sits in second place for all-time minutes played (5285) at the Mount. Next on the list is the all-time leader Rob Ray (5316, 1997-00). Davis is also fourth in career shutouts with 15 while Larry Howley (16, 1984-87) and Rob Ray (16, 1997-00) are tied for second on the all-time list. Davis recorded eight shutouts as a sophomore to notch the most shutouts in a campaign since 1999.

local rivalries... Mount St. Mary's will play four teams from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area this season. The squad will host Towson (L, 0-2), George Washington (W, 4-3) and UMBC (L, 2-3) and traveled to Howard (W, 2-0) this season.

new to the mountain... Head coach Rob Ryerson has added eight players to his 2010 roster. Freshmen Zoncher Dennis (Abijam, Ivory Coast), Jimmy Ockford (Yardley, Pa.), Connor Waraksa (Media, Pa.) and Patrick Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) were signed to National Letters of Intent while junior transfer Peter Steve (Dallas, Pa.) also signed a scholarship. Steve went to Cincinnati for two years, but did not play in a game with the Bearcats. Freshmen Steve Hamilton (Manchester, Md.), Mike Molloy (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Koudzo Komlan (Lome, Togo) also joined the team.

players from down under... Junior Chris Davis (Townsville, Australia), the first men's soccer player to hail from Australia, was joined by fellow countrymen Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) in 2008. Wheeler's brother Patrick Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) joined the team in 2010.

the family continues to grow... Head coach Rob Ryerseon has coached five of the eight brother combos in Mount men's soccer history. Freshmen Jimmy Ockford and Patrick Wheeler join the team this season to join their brothers sophomore Alex Ockford and junior Chris Wheeler. In addition, freshman Connor Waraksa becomes the third member of his family to play Division I athletics and the second at the Mount. Connor's sister, Breana, was a four-year letterwinner on the women's lacrosse team and still holds the single game and career record for assists.

home sweet home emmitsburg... Under head coach Rob Ryerson, Mount St. Mary's is 33-29-3 at home, including 4-2-1 in 2000 (Ryerson's first season) and 5-1 in 2003.

foreign flavor... Head coach Rob Ryerson has six international students on the team in 2010. Senior Chris Davis (Townsville, Australia) , junior Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) and sophomore Will Jagger (Crowsborough, England) return in 2010 while sophomore Koudzo Komlan (Lome, Togo) and freshmen Zoncher Dennis (Abijam, Ivory Coast) and Patrick Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) joins the fray this season.

waldron family stadium... Mount St. Mary's is 14-15-1 at the Waldron Family Stadium. The squad moved into the state-of-the-art 1,000-seat Waldron Family Stadium for a full season in 2007. The Mount played three games in the venue in 2006, posting a 2-1 record. The Mountaineers lost their inaugural match at the stadium to Monmouth 3-0 on Oct. 15, 2006 before ending the season with wins against Sacred Heart (2-1) and Northeast Conference Tournament bound Fairleigh Dickinson (1-0 2OT).

friday night lights... Mount St. Mary's played its first two night games at Waldron Family Stadium last season and have posted a 1-2 mark under the lights. The Mount will host Towson (L, 0-2), Bryant (Oct. 22) and Robert Morris (Oct. 29) under the lights in 2010.

about the coach... Head coach Rob Ryerson is entering his 11th season at the helm of the men's soccer team at the Mount, posting a career record of 60-101-22. He has led the Mount to a 35-46-14 mark in NEC regular season games. Ryerson was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Mountaineers to a 9-10-1 overall mark and a 5-4 record in league play and the squad's first NEC Tournament appearance since 1999 in the 2008 campaign.