GAME 17: Sacred Heart (6-9, 5-3 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's (6-10, 5-3 NEC)
WHEN: Sat, Apr. 23, 2011, 4 p.m.
WHERE: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.

SERIES INFORMATION: Mount leads 10-5
LAST MEETING: Sacred Heart (14-5) 4-23-10
FIRST MEETING: Mount (12-7) 3-14-98
LAST MOUNT WIN: (12-7) 4-9-09

opening draw... The postseason will unofficially start in Emmitsburg on Saturday when Mount St. Mary's hosts Sacred Heart for the 16th time dating back to the 1998 season. The winner of the match is assured a spot in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament while the Mount would be eliminated with a loss and the Pioneers could sneak into the league postseason with a Monmouth loss. Mount St. Mary's leads the all-time series 10-5, but Sacred Heart won both meetings last season in Fairfield including a 14-5 decision in the NEC Semifinals. The Mountaineers last win in the series was a 12-7 decision in 2009. Mount St. Mary's has won all seven meetings in Emmitsburg while the Pioneers have won the last four matches in Fairfield.

the word about the pioneers... Sacred Heart set up this must-win situation after defeating Monmouth 12-6 on Thursday and come into the contest 6-9 overall and 5-3 in Northeast Conference play. Junior M Kate Kmiotek leads the Pioneers with 34 goals and 19 assists for 53 points. Junior A Kaitlin Rocheler ranks second on the team with 34 goals and 11 assists for 45 points and sophomore A Emily Pepe is third with 18 tallies and 26 assists for 44 points. Senior M Jessica Ingrilli paces the defense with 38 ground balls, 38 draw controls and 22 caused turnovers. Sophomore GK Megan Pepe has 103 saves, a 12.25 goals against average and a .358 save percentage.

last time we met... Top-seed and host Sacred Heart defeated Mount St. Mary's 14-5 in the Northeast Conference Women's Lacrosse Semifinals on Apr. 23, 2010. Jordan Certeza paced the Mount with two goals while Esther Rufolo, Alexis Salerno and Jen Semler also found the twine in the loss. Kaitlin Rochler fueled the Pioneers with four goals and an assist. Carissa Hauser registered a hat trick while Alicia Fuchs and Jackie Pierce each tallied two markers and two assists in the winning effort.

former nec champion will be sitting at home this year for the postseason... Mount St. Mary's, Monmouth and Sacred Heart are vying for the two of the final NEC Tournament berths. One of these three teams has been the only NEC Tournament champion in the last seven years. The Mount won the title in 2004 and 2005 before the Hawks took the title in 2006 and 2007 while the Pioneers are the three-time defending champion. After the departure of UMBC in 2003, these three teams are the only teams in the league to own league titles.

will history repeat itself... This will not be the first time Mount St. Mary's and Sacred Heart go into the final game of the regular season with a must-win between the two teams. The Mount defeated the Pioneers 9-8 in overtime on Apr. 27, 2003 to propel the Mountaineers into the NEC Tournament with Sacred Heart not advancing to the postseason. Behind three goals from Michelle Bruckner, the Pioneers jumped out to a 7-3 lead at 40:53. The Mount tied the game thanks to goes by Kirby Day, Kelly Moran, Erin LaMotte and Lauren Reymann in the final 13 minutes. LaMotte and Bruckner each scored in the first overtime before Kim Keene found the back of the net off a Nicole Di'Angelo assist with 1:22 left in the second overtime to propel the Mountaineers into the NEC Tournament. interesting fact... Mount St. Mary's won five-straight games to knock Sacred Heart out in 2003. The Pioneers come into the contest in 2011 winners of four consecutive.

last time out... Quinnipiac scored six of the final eight goals to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 11-8 on Thursday. Jen Semler paced the Mount with two goals and two assists while Nicole Price and Kaitlyn Larrimore each had a hat trick. Brigid McTavish made eight saves in the loss.

next on tap... With a Mount St. Mary's victory, the Mount will participate in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the ninth-straight year and the 13th time in the last 14 years.

the hunt for april... Despite the loss to Quinnipiac on Thursday, the Mountaineers remain in the hunt for the NEC Tournament. The Mount will earn a spot with a win against Sacred Heart on Saturday, but will be eliminated with a loss. The Pioneers will advance with a win or a Monmouth loss. The Hawks will advance with a win or a Mountaineer loss. The tournament will be hosted by Quinnipiac or Robert Morris. The Bobcats will earn the No. 1 seed with a win, but a loss could send the four teams to Moon Township because despite not being eligible for postseason Bryant is a part of the tiebreaker scenario and could tie Robert Morris and Quinnipiac for a share of the regular season title and affect where the tournament will be held.

thank you, seniors... Mount St. Mary's would like to thank seniors Aly Jost, Lucy Pompa, Nicole Price and Alexis Salerno for all of their hard work and dedication to the Mount and the women's lacrosse program for the last four years. The quartet will be honored prior to the start of Saturday's contest against Sacred Heart. did you know... The Mount has won seven of the last eight senior day games.

mctavish honored by the conference... Brigid McTavish was named the Northeast Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3. It is the second time in her career that she has earned the honor. McTavish anchored a suffocating Mount St. Mary's defense last week, allowing just nine goals in a pair of league wins.  She posted a 4.77 goals against average and .591 save percentage as the first place Mountaineers improved to 4-0 against NEC competition. McTavish turned away eight shots in a 10-6 win against Long Island on Friday and six more in a 13-4 victory over Wagner on Sunday. She also scooped up three ground balls against the Seahawks. 

semler receives national honor roll... Jen Semler was named to the Synapse Sports Honor Roll for the week of Mar. 29-Apr. 4.  It marks the fifth time in program history a Mount player has received recognition from the website formerly known as womenslacrosse.com. Semler posted seven goals and two assists for nine points in the week to help the Mount win a pair of Northeast Conference (NEC) games. The junior posted a hat trick in a 10-6 win against Long Island on Friday and four goals and two assists for a career-high six points in a 13-4 win against Wagner on Sunday. Semler converted a free-position attempt at 37:56 to give the Mountaineers the lead for good against the Blackbirds while also finding the twine at 44:38 and 55:50. In the second half against the Seahawks, the junior had a hand in the Mount's first four goals in the second half after scoring the first two markers in the stanza at 34:35 and 38:08 before handing out an assist at 38:59 and capping a 4-0 run with her fourth goal of the afternoon at 53:11.

the natural way... Junior Jen Semler notched a natural hat trick in the second half against Bryant on Mar. 25. It was the first time a Mount player turned the trick since Ashley Johnson against George Washington last season. Semler notched a career-best four goals in the contest against the Bulldogs. The junior has posted 32 goals and 11 assists for 43 points in her last 12 games.

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. Lucey earned her second win and first league win with a 9-5 decision against Bryant on Mar. 25. Lucey is the fourth coach in program history to win the league opener with a 9-5 win against Bryant on Mar. 25.

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. Freshman Shelby Lyles registered her first collegiate goal against Robert Morris on Apr. 15 and Bridget McCann notched her collegiate tally against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Apr. 17.

the new class of scorers... Senior Nicole Price, junior Jen Semler and sophomore Kaitlyn Larrimore have combined for 75 goals and 20 assists for 95 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 team with 32 goals and seven assists for 39 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 leads the team with 33 tallies and 12 assists for 45 points after posting four goals and one assist for five points in each of her first two seasons in Emmitsburg. Larrimore has 10 markers and one assist for 11 points. The sophomore had two goals in six games before an injury cut her season short after six games last year.

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 team with 32 markers and seven assists for 39 points.

in the month... The Mount is 75-61 all-time in the month of April. The squad is 41-22 at home, but just 34-39 away from home.

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.

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 moved into the Top-10 for career ground balls with three ground balls against Long Island on Apr. 1 and now stands seventh with 166, 13 away from Lacey Morley (179, 1998-01). Jost recorded two caused turnovers against Quinnipiac on Apr. 21 to move into the sixth with 82 caused miscues. Next on the list is Erin LaMotte (83, 2002-05). The senior has a career-high 40 draw controls this season and now has 76 for her career, needing two to break the Top-10 in that category.

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 fourth place with 113 draws, needing seven draws to pass former teammate Katelyn Catanese (119, 2006-09) for third place. 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 fifth place in program history with 112 career draws, next on the list is teammate Lucy Pompa (113) and former teammate Katelyn Catanese (119, 2006-09).

mctavish on the move in the net... Junior Brigid McTavish ranks fifth in program history for career saves with 371 stops. Next on the list is Jane Karger (412, 2005-08). She also ranks second in minutes played with 2684.39. Next up is the all-time leader Naomi Campano Radio (4342:50). The junior also sits third in wins with 19, one shy of Randi Paige (20, 1996-97).

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 79-56 at home in its 15 seasons. In the past five campaigns, the Mount is 47-24 in Emmitsburg, including 31-5 against league opponents in that stretch. The Mount moved into the Waldron Family Stadium in 2006 and the squad is 25-20 in its new home.

all-time mark... Mount St. Mary's is 137-137 all-time in 16 seasons, including 80-56 at home, 54-71 on the road and 3-9 at a neutral site. The Mount is also 62-28 in the Northeast Conference play. The squad also boasts a 14-0 mark in the MAAC after winning the league in 1997 and 1998.