Mount St. Mary's (1-7) at Bryant (1-6)
WHEN: Fri, Mar. 25, 2011, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Bryant Track & Turf Complex, Smithfield, R.I.

SERIES INFORMATION: Mount leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: Mount (13-3) 4-11-10
FIRST MEETING: Mount (13-3) 4-11-10
LAST BRYANT WIN: N/A

opening draw... Friday's Northeast Conference opener between Mount St. Mary's and Bryant marks the second meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2010 season. The Mount won the inaugural matchup 13-3 last season in Emmitsburg.

the word about the bulldogs... Bryant comes into the match 1-6 overall and 0-0 in Northeast Conference play after falling 11-8 to Holy Cross on Tuesday. Freshman A Haley Bloom leads the team with 12 goals and six assists for 18 points. Freshman M Katherine Keckeisen ranks second with 13 tallies for 13 points while junior M Mary Green has five goals and four assists for nine points and junior A Lauren Sheridan boasts seven goals and two helpers for nine points. Freshman M Lisa Vendel paces the defense with 14 ground balls, 13 draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Junior GK Lauren Filippone has 71 saves, a 14.20 goals against average and a .467 save percentage.

last time we met... Sparked offensively by Ashley Johnson and defensively by Jackie Kearney, Mount St. Mary's defeated Bryant 13-3 on Apr. 11, 2010. Johnson posted four goals and one assist to lead the team's offensive attack that had seven different players find the back of the twine. Kearney stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high in ground balls (9) and caused turnovers (6) along with adding two goals and two draw controls. Jordan Certeza tallied two goals and two assists for the Mount while Meaghan Conlon and Alexis Salerno each found the twine twice. Allison Faiola, Meg Atha and Lauren Sheridan each scored a goal for the Bulldogs while netminder Lauren Filippone made 17 saves in the loss.

last time out... George Washington defeated Mount St. Mary's 16-4 on Monday night. Esther Rufolo paced the Mount with two goals while Jen Semler and Alexis Salerno each found the twine once in the loss. Sarah Phillips paced the Colonials with four goals and two assists. Mia Breheny added five tallies while Nicole Lacey posted three goals and two assists, and Megan Seidman chipped in two markers and two assists in the winning effort.

next on tap... The Mount heads to Central Connecticut State on Sunday before returning to the Waldron Family Stadium for three home conference games against Long Island (Apr. 1), Wagner (Apr. 3) and Monmouth (Apr. 8).

nec openers... Mount St. Mary's is 10-3 in the Northeast Conference opener, including wins in six out of the last seven years. The Mountaineers will face Bryant in the league opener for the first time in team history. The Mount will be on the road for only the fifth time in program history to start the league slate. The Mountaineers lost at Wagner in 2001, at UMBC in 2003 and at Monmouth in 2010 while defeating Robert Morris in 2005 in the four previous road contests to start the NEC schedule.

first head coaching victory... With the 12-11 win against Longwood on Mar. 8, head coach B.J. Lucey picked up her first career win as a head coach.

collegiate firsts... Freshman Mary MacAdam posted her first collegiate goal against Johns Hopkins on Feb. 23 and finished with two tallies. Fellow freshman Lindsay Diaz notched her first collegiate score against Temple on Feb. 27 and also finished with two goals on the afternoon.

rufolo stepping up... Junior Esther Rufolo has posted 11 goals in her last three games. The junior registered a career-high five tallies against Bucknell on Mar. 16 and four markers against UMBC on Mar. 19. It was the seventh time Rufolo has scored three goals or more in a game in her career.

the new class of scorers... Senior Nicole Price, junior Jen Semler and sophomore Kaitlyn Larrimore have combined for 27 goals and seven assists for 34 points in 2011 after totally 16 goals and three assists for 19 points in their career coming into the season. Price ranks second on the Mount with 13 goals and two assists for 15 points in her senior campaign. The senior took the year off last year to attend snowboarding school after tallying six goals and one assist for seven points in her first year with the team in 2009. Semler ranks third on the team with 10 tallies and four assists for 13 points after posting four goals and one assist for five points in each of her first two seasons in Emmitsburg. Larrimore is fourth on the team with four markers and one assist for five points. The sophomore had two goals in six games before an injury cut her season short after six games last year.

the first in the nation... The Mount St. Mary's-Navy season opener was also the first game on the women's lacrosse slate for the 2011 season. The match started an hour before George Mason at UMBC and Notre Dame at California. Esther Rufolo won the opening draw to kick start the 2011 women's lacrosse season.

nice return... Senior Nicole Price returned to the women's lacrosse team after taking the 2010 season off to go to snowboarding school. Price scored the Mount's first two goals of the season against Navy on Feb. 9. Price recorded six goals and one assist in the 2009 season. In her freshman year, Price was a member of the Mount women's basketball team and appeared in six games with two points and one rebound. The senior scored a career-high four goals against Longwood on Mar. 8 and ranks second on the squad with 13 markers and two assists for 15 points.

in the month... The Mount is 57-51 all-time in the month of March. The squad is 37-16 at home, but just 20-35 away from Emmitsburg. Mount St. Mary's will have four road games and two games at Waldron Family Stadium in the month.

preseason poll... The Mount St. Mary's women's lacrosse team has been picked fourth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart finished tied for the top spot in the poll to share the honor of preseason favorite. The Bobcats picked up three first-place votes while the defending regular season and tournament champion Pioneers grabbed two first-place nods. Monmouth picked up the most first-place votes with five, but finished third in the poll while the Mount and Robert Morris were tied for fourth. Wagner, Bryant, Saint Francis (Pa.), Long Island and Central Connecticut State rounded out the 10-team poll.

aly is all defense... Senior Aly Jost has been named to the All-Northeast Conference first team in her first three campaigns and was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. The senior has 148 ground balls in her career and can move into the Top-10 in ground balls with eight ground balls. Jost recorded two caused turnovers against High Point on Mar. 5 to move into the Top-10 with 74 caused miscues. Next on the list are Jacqui Ricca (78, 2004-07) and Michelle Coates (78, 1999-02) in eighth place.

pompa pumps up the jam... Senior Lucy Pompa is making her move in the all-time career draw controls list. The senior currently stands in sixth place with 104 draws, needing three draw controls to move into fourth place and ahead of Erin LaMotte (106, 2002-04). Pompa ranked in the Top-4 in ground balls, caused turnovers and draw controls on the team in her sophomore and junior campaigns.

rufolo's a big draw... Junior Esther Rufolo posted the fourth-most draw controls in a single season with 47 draw controls last season. Rufolo currently sits in ninth place in program history with 90 career draws, 10 behind Kim Keene (100, 2001-04).

mctavish on the move in the net... Junior Brigid McTavish ranks fifth in program history for career saves with 302 stops. Next on the list is Jane Karger (412, 2005-08). She also ranks third in minutes played with 2230.59. Next up is Jane Karger (2405:45, 2005-08) in second place. The junior also sits in fourth for wins as a goalkeeper with 14 and can move ahead of Karger (17) with four victories.

about the coach... B.J. Lucey begins her first season as head coach at Mount St. Mary's in 2011. Lucey comes to the Mount after serving as an assistant coach her alma mater, Penn State, from 2006-10. While at Penn State, she was involved in all aspects of the program, including recruiting, working with both the offense and defense, scouting and film breakdown. Lucey began her coaching career as an assistant coach at the College of New Jersey, helping lead the team to the Division III National Championship game in 2004. She was an assistant coach at Temple for two seasons (2004-05), helping the Owls win the Atlantic 10 regular season title in 2005. A 2003 graduate of Penn State, Lucey was earned Regional All-American honors in 2000 and 2001 as a midfielder with the Nittany Lions.

local rivalry... Once again this season, the Mount schedule will have a local feel to it when the Mountaineers play four teams from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The squad opened the season on Feb. 11 with its first-ever meeting against Navy before traveling to Johns Hopkins on Feb. 23. Mount St. Mary's also hosted UMBC on Mar. 19 and George Washington on Mar. 21.

conference honors... The Mount returns two players that received All-Northeast Conference recognition last season. Senior Aly Jost earned her third-straight All-NEC first-team selection in 2010 after being named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. Junior Esther Rufolo earned a spot on the All-NEC second team in 2010 while senior Lucy Pompa was an All-NEC second-teamer in 2009.

the mount royal blood line... Junior goalkeeper Brigid McTavish is related to one of the best Mount St. Mary's men's basketball player in program history. McTavish's grandfather is the late Jack Sullivan, the Mount's men's basketball all-time leading scorer with 2,672 career points. Sullivan passed away in the fall of 2010.

the local crew... Mount St. Mary's has three players on its roster from Carroll County. Junior Meaghan Conlon (Eldersburg, Md.), junior Brigid McTavish (Mount Airy, Md.) and freshman Gabe Little (Hampstead, Md.) all hail from the neighboring country.

new to the mountain... Along with first-year head coach B.J. Lucey, freshmen Maggie Bathon, Annie Battista, Lindsay Diaz, Gabe Little, Shelby Lyles, Mary MacAdam, Bridget McGann, Lily O'Beirne and Aubrey Rubino join the team in 2011. Senior Nicole Price rejoins the squad after not playing last season.

home sweet home, emmitsburg... Mount St. Mary's is 77-54 at home in its 15 seasons. In the past five campaigns, the Mount is 45-22 in Emmitsburg, including 29-3 against league opponents in that stretch. The Mount moved into the Waldron Family Stadium in 2006 and the squad is 23-18 in its new home.

all-time mark... Mount St. Mary's is 132-134 all-time in 16 seasons, including 77-54 at home, 52-70 on the road and 3-9 at a neutral site. The Mount is also 59-26 in the Northeast Conference play. The squad also boasts a 14-0 mark in the MAAC after winning the league in 1997 and 1998.