Mount St. Mary's (2-2) at Rider (0-3)
WHEN: Tue, Sept. 14, 2010, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Campus Turf Field, Lawrenceville, N.J.

SERIES INFORMATION: Series Tied 4-4-0
LAST MEETING: Mount (3-2) 8-30-03
FIRST MEETING: Mount (2-0) 10-31-92
LAST RIDER WIN: (5-4 OT) 10-26-96
IN LAWRENCEVILLE: Rider leads 2-1

opening kick... Tuesday's game between Mount St. Mary's and Rider marks the ninth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1992 season. The series is tied at 4 after the Mount won the last two meetings in the matchup (1996, 2003). The Mountaineers won the last meeting 3-2 in 2003 while the Broncs last victory was a 5-4 overtime decision in 1996.

about the broncs... Rider comes into the contest 0-3 after falling 5-0 to High Point on Sept. 6. Sophomore F Sam Kotowski and junior M Sal Lubrano have scored the two goals for Broncs while freshman F Josh Wright and junior M Sam Bryant each have dished out an assist this season. Sophomore GK Matt Perrella has 16 saves, a 3.42 goals against average and a .640 save percentage.

last time we met... Kieran Ryan scored off a Justin Decker rebound at the 86:36 mark to lead Mount St. Mary's past Rider 3-2 on Oct. 30, 2003. Francis Ndangum and Pierre De Aguila posted the first two goals of the match for the Mount. Brian Laurinaitis and Joe Radas recorded the two tallies for the Broncs. Mark Murphy had three saves for the Mountaineers and Brian Gill turned away seven shots in the loss.

last time out... Koudzo Komlan scored his first collegiate goal in the 61st minute to lift Mount St. Mary's past George Washington 4-3 on Saturday. After the Colonials rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 3, Komlan took a long ball and beat on the oncoming goalkeeper and popped the ball over his head into the netting for the decisive tally and his first career score. Eric Detzel powered the Mount in the first half with a goal and two assists in a span of three minutes and five seconds. Chris Wheeler and Will Thomas were the beneficiaries on Detzel's two helpers.

next on tap... The Mount hosts UMBC on Saturday before traveling to the UNLV Tournament against the host Rebels on Sept. 24 and California-Bakersfield on Sept. 26.

in the league... Mount St. Mary's leads the Northeast Conference in goals (8) and assists (7) and points (25). Junior Chris Wheeler paces the league in shots (24), shots per game (6.00), points (8) and goals (4) while ranking second in goals per game (1.00) and fourth in points per game (2.00). Senior Eric Detzel fuels the NEC in assists (5) and assists per game (1.25) and also ranks fourth in points (7) and sixth in points per game (1.75).

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.

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

in the league: The Mount is 71-82-27 in Northeast Conference matches. The Mountaineers are 33-45-15 under head coach Rob Ryerson in the NEC and 6-2-2 in the conference opener, including back-to-back NEC opening wins in 2008 and 2009. The Mount is 10-8-1 in the last two seasons in the league.

wheeling and dealing... Junior Chris Wheeler has scored 24 goals in his first three seasons in Emmitsburg and now sits in eighth place on the program's all-time career goal list and third place in Division I program history. Next on the all-time list are Dave Swomley (26, 1970-73) and Simon Hodkin (26, 1996-99) in sixth place. Hodkin is also right ahead of Wheeler in the Mount Division I list in second place. The junior also sits in fifth place in points in Division I history with 52, six points shy of Don Berry (58, 1988-90) in fourth place. He can also move into the program's all-time career Top-10 list in points with fourth points. 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 15 goals in Mount Division I history with Don Barry (18, 1988-90) next on the list. Detzel also stands in eighth place with 43 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 10th place for assists in Mount Divisoion I history with 10 assists. Next on the list is former teammate Vinnie Berry (11, 2005-08) in eighth place. The senior has five goals and 10 assists for 20 points in his career.

the man protecting the pipes... Senior Chris Davis sits in fourth place for all-time minutes played (4925) at the Mount. Next on the list is Mark Murphy (5070, 2002-06) in third place. Davis is also fourth in career shutouts with 13 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 (Sept. 18) and will travel 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 33-28-3 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 14-14-1 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 58-97-22. He has led the Mount to a 34-45-14 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.