Radford (0-0) at Mount St. Mary's (0-1)
WHEN: Sat, Sept. 4, 2010, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Waldron, Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.

SERIES INFORMATION: Radford leads 2-0-1
LAST MEETING: Radford (1-0) 9-14-08
FIRST MEETING: Tied (2-2 ot) 11-1-81
LAST MOUNT WIN: n/a
IN EMMITSBURG: Radford leads 1-0

opening kick... Saturday's match between Mount St. Mary's and Radford marks the fourth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1981 season. The Highlanders lead the series 2-0-1, including a 1-0 victory on Sept. 14, 2008.

about the highlanders... Radford is coming off a 5-9-3 season and 1-4-3 in the Big South. First-year head coach Marc Reeves returns the squad's Top-4 scorers from 2009. Sophomore M Brian Gwanzura paced the team with four goals for eight points in his freshman campaign. Junior F Iyiola Awosika and senior F James Jordan ranked second on the team with three goals and one assist for seven points while senior M James Leith was fourth on the squad with three goals for six points. Junior GK Ryan Taylor recorded 68 saves, a 1.40 goals against average and a .739 saves percentage.

last time we met... Radford scored with 53 seconds remaining to break a scoreless tie to take a 1-0 decision against Mount St. Mary's on Sept. 14, 2008. Justin Zimmer passed the ball from the left to the center of the field to Shane Butler, who then rocketed a shot that tipped off Mount goalkeeper Chris Davis' fingertips and over his head and into the back of the netting before he could kick the ball out at the 89:03 mark for the decisive score. Davis made four saves for the Mountaineers while Chris Wheeler had a team-high six shots in the loss. Butler, who made his collegiate debut in the match, notched his first career goal for the Highlanders while Zimmer registered his second assist on the year. Zach Roszel turned away five shots in the winning effort.

next on tap... The Mount hits the road for the first time this season at Howard on Tuesday before returning home on Sept. 11 to face George Washington. The squad will have three-straight Saturday games at the Waldron Family Stadium.

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 20 goals in his first two seasons in Emmitsburg and now sits in fifth place in Division I program history for career goals. Next on the list are Mark Southern (21, 1994-97) and Brad Hiester (21, 1988-90) in third place. He also sits one tally shy of joining the program's all-time career goal list. The junior also sits in seventh place in points in Division I history with Hiester (48) and Dan Gaertner (48, 1993-96) next on the list. 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 14 goals in Mount Division I history with Don Barry (18, 1988-90) next on the list. Detzel also stands right behind teammate Chris Wheeler with 37 points and sits in 10th place with nine assists, right behind teammate Scott Phinith.

no fins to slow him down... Senior Scott Phinith sits in ninth 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 and Kurt Borel (12, 2001-04) in seventh 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 fifth place for all-time minutes played (4625) at the Mount. Next on the list is Keith Kennedy (4664, 1992-95) in fourth place. Davis is also fourth in career shutouts with 12 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 (Sept. 11) and UMBC (Sept. 18) and will travel to Howard (Sept. 7) 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 32-27-3 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 13-13-1 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 56-96-22. 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.