UMBC (3-2) at Mount St. Mary's (3-2)
WHEN: Sat, Sept. 18, 2010, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Emmitsburg, Md., Waldron Family Stadium

SERIES INFORMATION: UMBC leads 21-10-2
LAST MEETING: UMBC (2-1) 9-12-09
FIRST MEETING: Mount (2-1) 10-14-72
LAST MOUNT WIN: (3-0) 10-8-97
IN EMMITSBURG: UMBC leads 11-6-0 (UMBC leads 1-0 at the Waldron Family Stadium)

opening kick... Saturday's game between Mount St. Mary's and UMBC marks the 34th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1972 season. The Retrievers lead the series 21-10-2 including coming into the match with a 12-game unbeaten streak. UMBC won last season 2-1 while the Mount's last win was a 3-0 decision in 1997.

about the retrievers... UMBC comes into the contest 3-2 after defeating La Salle 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday. Senior F Levi Houapeu scored the game-winning goal with 22 seconds left in the extra session and leads the team with five goals and one assist for 11 points. Junior M/F Nirav Kadam ranks second on the team with two tallies and four helpers for eight points while freshman F Pete Caringi is third with three goals and one assist for seven points. Sophomore GK Phil Saunders has 11 saves, a 1.60 goals against average and a .611 save percentage.

last time we met... UMBC scored two goals in the final 46 minutes to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 2-1 at the Adidas Kickoff Classic on Sept. 12, 2009. Chris Wheeler notched his second goal of the tournament off an Eric Detzel assist in the 16th minute. Chris Davis made a season-high six saves in the loss. Levi Houapeu notched the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the 77th minute. Andrew Bullis posted his team-leading eighth goal for the Retrievers and Phil Saunders made four stops in the winning effort.

last time out... Chris Wheeler scored two goals to lead Mount St. Mary's past Rider 2-0 on Tuesday. Jimmy Ockford dished out an assist on Wheeler's first score for his first collegiate point for the Mount while Chris Davis made three saves to earn his second shutout of the season and 14th of his career.

brotherly love... Mount St. Mary's freshman Conor Waraksa will face his older brother John Paul Waraksa on Saturday. The elder Waraksa plays midfield for UMBC. In addition to the two brothers, their sister Breana is a former Mount lacrosse standout who left the Mount as the record holder for assists in a season and a career.

next on tap... The Mount travels to the UNLV Tournament against the host Rebels on Sept. 24 and California-Bakersfield on Sept. 26.

fastest to six... Junior Chris Wheeler has scored six goals in five games. After not scoring in the first game, Wheeler has posted six goals in the last four games to become the fastest Mount player to six goals in program history. Mike Faulbert had five goals through five games in 1993 and Duncan Gladwin had the same trick in 1996.

three-straight wins... After starting the season 0-2, the Mount has defeated Howard (2-0, Sept. 7), George Washington (4-3, Sept. 11) and Rider (2-0, Sept. 14) to improve to 3-2 on the year. The squad has won three-straight games for the first time since the 2008 season.

in the league... Mount St. Mary's leads the Northeast Conference in goals (10) and assists (8) and points (28). Junior Chris Wheeler paces the league in shots (28), shots per game (5.60), points (12), points per game (2.40), goals (6) and goals per game (1.20) Senior Eric Detzel fuels the NEC in assists (5) and assists per game (1.25) and also ranks fourth in points (7) and fourth in points per game (1.00).

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 26 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 fifth place in points in Division I history with 56, two points shy of Don Berry (58, 1988-90) in fourth place. He also moved into 10th place on the all-time career points list. Next on list is Dave Swomley (60, 1970-73). 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 (5015) at the Mount. Next on the list is Mark Murphy (5070, 2002-06) in third place. Davis is also fourth in career shutouts with 14 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 59-97-22. 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.