Game 17: Mount St. Mary's (8-6-2, 5-3-1 NEC) at Monmouth (12-5-0, 6-2-0 NEC)
WHEN: Sun, Nov. 6, 2011, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Great Lawn, West Long Branch, N.J.
SERIES INFORMATION: Monmouth leads 13-6-5
LAST MEETING: Tied (2-2 2ot) 11-5-10
FIRST MEETING: Monmouth (2-1) 10-17-89
LAST MOUNT WIN: (2-1) 10-26-03
LAST MONMOUTH WIN: (3-1) 11-6-90
IN WEST LONG BRANCH: Monmouth leads 7-4-1
opening kick... For the third-straight season Mount St. Mary's and Monmouth will battle in the regular season finale and for the second time in three campaigns the Mount has a chance to clinch a berth in upcoming Northeast Conference with a victory. Sunday's match between the Mount and the Hawks marks 25th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1989 season. Monmouth is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak in the series, but the two squads have ended in a standstill in two of the last three meetings. The Hawks downed the Mount 3-1 in the last meeting at the Great Lawn while the Mountaineers last win in the series was a 2-1 decision in 2003.
the complexity of the playoff picture…
Games of Importance
Saturday:
Fairleigh Dickinson at Long Island, 3 p.m. | Update: FDU defeated Long Island, 3-0
Sunday:
Mount St. Mary's at Monmouth, 1 p.m. | Live Stats
St. Francis (N.Y.) at Quinnipiac, 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Sacred Heart at Bryant, 1 p.m. | Live Stats
Robert Morris at Saint Francis (Pa.), 4 p.m. | Live Stats
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS:
Mount St. Mary's would clinch a spot with a win and
1. A Saint Francis (Pa.) loss or tie or
2. A Sacred Heart loss or
3. A Fairleigh Dickinson loss or tie or
4. A Quinnipiac win against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Sunday
Mount St. Mary's would be eliminated with...
5. A loss or a tie Mount St. Mary's or
6. With a Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) win and a Sacred Heart tie
In scenarios 1, 2 and 3, Mount St. Mary's would have more points each of those teams to catapult that team in the standings with a win against Monmouth and in scenario 5 the Mount would not have enough points to be one of the Top-4 teams.
Scenario 4 Explanation: If Sacred Heart, Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) all win… Mount St. Mary's would need Quinnipiac to beat St. Francis (N.Y.) on Sunday to make NEC Tournament.
WHY?
Since Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) ended in a scoreless result on Oct. 28,the tiebreaker for the final spot is winning percentage against the No. 1 seed and goes down the standings until the tiebreaker is broken. Central Connecticut State and Sacred Heart would end the season in a first place tie. The NEC does not break the tiebreaker in other tiebreakers until afterwards so even though Sacred Heart would be the No. 1 seed Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut State would each be considered in first place for the tiebreaker. Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) would be 1-1 against the first-place teams since the Mount beat the Blue Devils and lost to the Pioneers and vice versa for the Red Flash. Fairleigh Dickinson would be the next highest seed and both the Mount and Red Flash lost to the Knights. Monmouth would be the next team in the standings and both the Mount and Red Flash would have wins against the Hawks. The next two teams in the standings are St. Francis (N.Y.) (14 points) and Quinnipiac (12 points). Mount St. Mary's lost to St. Francis (N.Y.), but beat Quinnipiac while Saint Francis (Pa.) beat the Terriers and lost to the Bobcats so this would determine the final playoff spot. St. Francis (N.Y.) is currently two points ahead of Quinnipiac so if Sacred Heart, Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) win then the Mount would need Quinnipiac to beat St. Francis (N.Y.) so the Bobcats would jump the Terriers in the standings to give Mount St. Mary's the tiebreaker.
Scenario 6 Explanation: If Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) win and Sacred Heart ties, Mount St. Mary's would be eliminated.
WHY?
Central Connecticut State would win the regular season with 21 points. Fairleigh Dickinson would finish second with 20 points and Mount St. Mary's, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Sacred Heart would be tied for third place with 19 points. Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) finished in a scoreless result on Oct. 30, Sacred Heart beat Mount St. Mary's 1-0 on Oct. 14 and Saint Francis (Pa.) downed Sacred Heart on Oct. 2. Saint Francis (Pa.) would be 1-0-1, Sacred Heart would be 1-1-0 and the Mount would be 0-1-1 so in this three-way tiebreaker Saint Francis (Pa.) has the best winning percentage and would be the third seed. Mount St. Mary's and Sacred Heart would be left for a two-way tiebreaker and since the Pioneers beat the Mount they would earn the No. 4 seed.
about the hawks... Monmouth comes into the contest 12-5-0 overall and 6-2-0 in Northeast Conference play after falling 1-0 to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Oct. 30. Junior midfielder Ryan Clark leads the team with three goals and eight assists for 14 points. Freshman midfielder Kalle Sotka ranks second on the team with four goals and two assists for 10 points while sophomore midfielder Joseph Schmid has three goals and three assists for nine points and senior D/M RJ Allen is fourth with a tally and six helpers for eight points. Junior goalkeeper Alex Blackburn has 42 saves, a 0.58 goals against average and a .808 save percentage.
offense vs. defense… The tilt on Sunday matches the Northeast Conference's best scoring offense and the league's top defense. The Mount leads the circuit in goals (24) and points (74) while Monmouth is the NEC's best defense (0.58 goals against average). Monmouth is also the third-best scoring offense (69 points) and the Mountaineers rank sixth in defense (1.00 goals against average).
a rivalry in the making… The rivalry may look lopsided by the all-time series and even in the last four years, but the numbers can be deceiving. Monmouth has won the regular season matchups in 2008 (2-1) and 2009 (3-1), but the two teams ended in a standstill in the NEC Semifinals in 2008 (0-0) and in the regular season finale in 2010 (2-2). The Mount moved onto the NEC Championship Game after winning penalty kicks in the 2008 postseason. The two teams will face each other in the final regular season game for the third-straight season and it marks the fourth-consecutive season the two teams will battle in November.
last time we met… Ty Fenstermacher scored twice to help the Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team end the season with a 2-all standstill against No. 11 Monmouth on Nov. 5, 2010. Playing in his final collegiate game, Fenstermacher tied the game at 1 in the 73rd minute and then tied the game at 2 in the 78th minute. Scott Phinith dished out assists on both of his classmates tallies for the Mount while Chris Wheeler had a hand in Fenstermacher's first goal of the afternoon. Chris Davis made four saves in his final collegiate contest. Ryan Clark and Kevin Davis each scored for the Hawks and Bryan Meredith had four stops in the match.
last time out… Zoncher Dennis scored in the ninth minute to lead the Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team to a 1-0 win against Robert Morris on Oct. 30. Dennis notched his team and NEC-leading 11th goal of the season on a header off an assist from Ian Hendrie at the 8:06 mark. It was the senior's team-leading seventh assist of the season. Peter Steve made a career-high eight saves in the game to earn his second-straight shutout and fifth of the season.
next on tap… The match at Monmouth is the final regular season game for the Mount in 2011, but with a win and some other results the Mountaineers could clinch its fifth NEC Tournament appearance. The top four teams advance to the league's postseason at the No. 1 seed on Nov. 11 and 13.
the earlier, the better... Mount St. Mary's is 8-0 when it scores in the first half and 0-6-2 when it does not find a twine in the first frame. In addition, the Mount has scored in the first 12 minutes of the game in the squad's eight wins while freshman Zoncher Dennis has posted four goals in the first 12 minutes. The freshman has notched the squad's first goal of a match five times this season after scoring his first career tally against Towson on Sept. 1.
in the league... The Mount is 79-90-28 in Northeast Conference matches. The Mountaineers are 41-53-16 under head coach Rob Ryerson in the NEC and 8-2-2 in the conference opener, including four-straight season-opening wins.
making a run at the wheeler… Freshman Zoncher Dennis has 11 goals in 2011 to rank fifth on the Mount's Division I single-season chart, but sits just two tallies away from senior Chris Wheeler's (13, 2010) single-season mark. Wheeler (12, 2008), Simon Hodkin (12, 1997) and Even Hytten (12, 1991) are tied for second place. It marks only the sixth time in Mount Division I history a player has reached double figures and Dennis is the fifth different player to reach the mark.
need a bigger trophy case… Freshman Zoncher Dennis has been named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week four times this season. The freshman has taken the honor for the weeks of Aug. 28-Sept. 4, Sept. 19-25, Oct. 3-9 and Oct. 10-17. He is the first player in program history to earn the top rookie nod four times in a season and is only the second player to nab the award three times, joining senior Chris Wheeler. Dennis is the third player in the Northeast Conference to garner four NEC Rookie of the Week awards dating back to the 1997 season. During the week of Sept. 19-25, Dennis was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week and SoccerSavings.com/Philly Soccer News Men's College Player of the Week to run his award total to four for the week. Dennis was also named NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Aug. 28-Sept. 4.
the golden sombrero of goals… Freshman Zoncher Dennis established a new Mount Division I record for goals in a game when he found the twine four times against La Salle on Sept. 24. The freshman tied John Tallarido's all-time single-game mark on the afternoon. Tallarido registered four goals against Washington Bible on Sept. 12, 1980 and also accomplished the feat against Millersville on Sept. 16, 1981.Dennis became the eighth player in Mount Division I history to register a hat trick and the first since Chris Wheeler on Oct. 10, 2008.
hendrie the helper… Senior Ian Hendrie ranks second on the team with three goals and a team-leading seven assists for 12 points. The senior posted two tallies and an assist against Iona on Sept. 11. Hendrie, who has played in the Mount's defense in two of his four seasons, has seven goals and seven assists for 21 points.
preseason poll... The Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team has been tabbed to finish fifth according to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Monmouth, who is the two-time defending NEC Tournament champion winners of the last six NEC regular season crowns, was selected as the unanimous preseason favorite. Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart and Saint Francis (Pa.) were picked 2-3-4 while the Mount ended in a fifth-place tie with Long Island. Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, St. Francis (N.Y.), Central Connecticut State and Bryant rounded out the 11-team poll.
wheeling and dealing... Senior Chris Wheeler broke the Mount's Division I single-season goal record after scoring 13 times in 2010. The senior also became the program's Division I leader in career goals as a junior and now stands at 35 markers. Wheeler posted a goal and an assist against Long Island on Oct. 9 to become the Mount Division I all-time points leader with 82. Wheeler is the program's all-time leader in shots (288). The senior currently has 35 goals to sit fourth in program history, 10 away (John Tallarido, 45, 1979-81) from the all-time mark. In two of his first three seasons, Wheeler has scored at least 12 goals in a year. Next on the list is Tony Pasiakos (39, 1967-70) in second place. On the all-time points list, Wheeler has 82 career points to rank third and needs 20 points to Tallarido's all-time mark (101). Next on the list is Jaeho Song (85, 1980-83). Wheeler is also the seventh player in Division I history to notch a hat trick when he found the twine against Robert Morris on Oct. 10, 2008. He was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region first team in 2010 and earned a spot on the All-NEC first team for the second-straight year after earning NEC Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the All-NEC second team in his freshman year.
wrapping up the non-conference slate… Mount St. Mary's concluded its non-conference slate 3-3-1 after downing La Salle 5-0 on Sept. 24. It marked the first time the squad posted a non-losing mark in non-conference play since finishing 3-3-0 in 2003. The five tallies against the Explorers were the most goals in a game since defeating Robert Morris 6-0 on Oct. 10, 2008.
local rivalries... The Mount once again had a local flavor to its non-conference schedule, playing three of its seven non-conference matches against teams from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The Mountaineers opened the season at UMBC on Aug. 27 (L, 0-1) and then traveled to Towson on Sept. 1 (T, 1-1) and hosted Howard (W, 2-0) on Sept. 19.
new to the mountain... Head coach Rob Ryerson has added 11 new players to his 2011 squad. Justin Connor, Dom De Aragao, Joshua De Aragao, Vlad Finn, Daniel Gill, Mauricio Navarrete, Will Pereira, Mark Plaisance, John Richards, Brett Smoot and Matthew Steele all joined the team for the 2011 season.
players from down under... Senior Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) and his brother Patrick Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) are the second and third players to play at the Mount from Australia. Chris Davis, the first Australian born player in Emmitsburg, graduated in May 2011.
foreign flavor... Along with the Chris and Patrick Wheeler, who hail from Australia, junior Will Jagger (England), sophomore Koudzo Komlan (Togo) and freshman Zoncher Dennis (Ivory Coast) also came to the Mount from abroad.
the family continues to grow... Head coach Rob Ryerseon has coached six of the nine brother combos in Mount men's soccer history. Senior Chris Wheeler and sophomore Patrick Wheeler and junior Alex Ockford and sophomore Jimmy Ockford will play together for the second-straight season. In 2011, the brothers of Dom and Joshua De Aragao joined the squad to become the ninth set of brothers to play men's soccer at the Mount.
home sweet home emmitsburg... Under head coach Rob Ryerson, Mount St. Mary's is 42-31-4 at home, including 6-1-0 this season, 4-2-1 in 2000 (Ryerson's first season) and 5-1 in 2003.
waldron family stadium... Mount St. Mary's is 23-17-3 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 in 2009 and have posted a 4-3-1 mark under the lights. The Mount hosted Howard (W, 2-0) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (T, 0-0 2ot) at night in 2011.
about the coach... Head coach Rob Ryerson is entering his 12th season at the helm of the men's soccer team at the Mount, posting a career record of 71-111-25. He has led the Mount to a 41-53-16 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.
