Mount St. Mary's (0-3) at High Point (2-2)
WHEN: Sat, Mar. 5, 2011, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Vert Stadium, High Point, N.C.

SERIES INFORMATION: Series tied 0-0
LAST MEETING: First Meeting 3-5-11
FIRST MEETING: First Meeting 3-5-11
LAST MOUNT WIN: N/A

opening draw... Saturday's game between Mount St. Mary's and High Point marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Mount is 9-8 against teams from the National Lacrosse Conference. Longwood, who the Mountaineers play on Tuesday, also belong to the National Lacrosse Conference.

the word about the panthers... High Point comes into the match 2-2 after defeating Presbyterian 19-4 on Thursday. Sophomore A Grace Gaeng leads the team with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points. Freshman A Chelsea Thompson ranks second on the team with eight tallies and five assist for 13 points while freshman A Mackenzie Carroll is third with two markers and eight helpers for 10 points. Freshman D Jasmine Jordan leads the defense with 13 ground balls and six caused turnovers. Sophomore GK Lauren Hayes has 24 saves, a 10.02 goals against average and a .375 save percentage. Freshman D Christy Staso's brother Matt played four years on the Mount baseball team.

last time out... Temple defeated Mount St. Mary's 9-5 on Sunday. Lindsay Diaz and Nicole Price paced the Mount with two goals apiece while Brigid McTavish made five stops in the loss.

next on tap... The Mount continues its three-game road trip at Longwood on Tuesday before traveling to Bucknell on Mar. 16. The squad returns home to host in-state rival UMBC on Mar. 19.

collegiate firsts... Frsehman 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.

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 has four goals for four points this season.

freshmen in the lineup... Freshmen Lindsay Diaz, Gabe Little and Mary MacAdam each made their collegiate debut in the starting lineup for the Mount against Navy on Feb. 11. Junior Jen Semler also made her first career start after appearing off the bench in 26 games in her first three seasons.

in the month... The Mount is 56-47 all-time in the month of March. The squad is 37-14 at home, but just 19-33 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 134 ground balls in her career and can move into the Top-10 in ground balls with 22 ground balls. Jost is also close to moving into the Top-10 in career caused turnovers, currently standing at 69 caused miscues and needing one to move into the Top-10.

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 eighth place with 94 draws, needing seven draw controls to move into seventh place and ahead of Kim Keene (100, 2001-04). 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 10th place in program history with 75 career draws and can move ahead of Leeann Robustelli (78, 2003-06) into ninth place with four draws.

mctavish on the move in the net... Junior Brigid McTavish ranks fifth in program history for career saves with 270 stops. Next on the list is Jane Karger (412, 2005-08). She also ranks fifth in minutes played with 1930.59. Next up is Randi Paige (2010.25, 1996-97) in fourth place. The junior also sits in fourth for wins as a goalkeeper with 13 and can move ahead of Jane Karger (17, 2005-08) with five 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 will open the season on Feb. 11 with its first-ever meeting against Navy before traveling to Johns Hopkins on Feb. 23. Mount St. Mary's will host UMBC on Mar. 19 and George Washington on Mar. 2'.

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 77-52 at home in its 15 seasons. In the past five campaigns, the Mount is 45-20 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 17-10 in its new home. The squad is 5-2 this season at home, its best mark since the 2007 team went 6-2 in Emmitsburg.

all-time mark... Mount St. Mary's is 131-130 all-time in 16 seasons, including 77-52 at home, 51-69 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.