NOTE: Due to Hurricane Irene's expected impact in the Baltimore area on Saturday evening, the UMBC men's soccer game vs. Mount St. Mary's has been rescheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sat., Aug. 27 at Retriever Soccer Park.
Game 1: Mount St. Mary's (0-0) at UMBC (0-0)
WHEN: Sat, Aug. 27, 2011, 1 p.m.
WHERE: UMBC Soccer Stadium, Baltimore, Md.
SERIES INFORMATION: UMBC leads 22-10-2
LAST MEETING: UMBC (3-2) 9-18-10
FIRST MEETING: Mount (2-1) 10-14-72
LAST MOUNT WIN: (3-0) 10-8-97
IN BALTIMORE: UMBC leads 10-4-2
opening kick... The Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team kicks off its 59th campaign in program history at UMBC on Saturday night. It marks the first season-opening meeting between the two Maryland programs and the 35th matchup dating back to the 1972 season. The Retrievers are riding a 13-game unbeaten streak against the Mountaineers into the match, including a 3-2 decision last season in Emmitsburg. The Mount's last win in the series was a 3-0 decision in 1997 in Baltimore.
about the retrievers... UMBC is coming off a 12-4-4 season after winning the America East Tournament title on penalty kicks against New Hampshire. The Retrievers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and fell to William & Mary in penalty kicks. UMBC, who was picked second in the America East preseason poll, is led by senior midfielder Andrew Bulls. Bulls ranked second on the team with five goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 2010. Sophomore forward Pete Caringi was the squad's third leading scorer last season with six goals and five assists for 17 points while senior forward Nirav Kadam ranked fourth with two tallies and five assists for nine points. Senior goalkeeper Dan Louisignau recorded 71 saves, a 0.87 goals against average and a .845 save percentage last season.
last time we met... UMBC scored three goals in the second half to rally past Mount St. Mary's 3-2 on Sept. 18, 2010. Ty Fenstermacher scored for the Mount while the squad's second goal an own goal. Peter Steve made his collegiate debut in goal and registered two saves. Pete Caringi, Jr., the son of head coach Pete Caringi, scored the game-winning goal in the 78th minute while Andrew Bulls dished out two assists. Levi Houapeau and Chris Williams also scored for the Retrievers and Dan Louisignau played the second half in between the pipes and made a game-saving stop in the closing seconds to preserve the win.
next on tap… Mount St. Mary's returns to action at Towson on Thursday before making its 2011 Waldron Family Stadium debut against Rider on Sept. 4.
for starters... Mount St. Mary's is 29-23-8 in the season opener all-time and 5-4-2 under head coach Rob Ryerson. After winning back-to-back season openers in 2008 and 2009, the Mount fell to Towson 2-0 last season in the inaugural game.
on the road again… The Mount will open on the road for the 24th time in program history and is 9-9-5 in those games. The squad has started away from Emmitsburg in 10 of the 12 seasons under head coach Rob Ryerson. The Mount is 5-4-2 in season openers and 4-3-2 on the road under Ryerson.
off on the right foot... The Mount has 26 non-losing seasons in program history. When the squad opens the season with a win, the Mountaineers have gone on to post a .500 record or better 20 times while twice Mount St. Mary's has started a season with a tie and went on to notch a .500 record or better.
what's coming back… The Mountaineers return seven starters from last season (senior Chris Wheeler, senior Ian Hendrie, junior Will Jagger, junior Alex Ockford, sophomore Koudzo Komlan, sophomore Jimmy Ockford and sophomore Patrick Wheeler. Chris Wheeler led the team with 13 goals and one assist for 27 points. The senior paced the league in goals (13), goals per game (0.72), shots (80) and shots per game (4.44) while also ranking second in points (28) and points per game (1.56). In the nation, Wheeler was sixth in goals, 10th in goals per game, 11th in points and 15th in points per game. Alex Ockford had three goals and two assists for eight points while Patrick Wheeler dished out three assists for three points. Komlan and Patrick both scored a goal last season while Jimmy Ockford recorded an assist. In goal, junior Peter Steve made six saves and registered a 2.90 goals against average and a .500 save percentage in two starts last season.
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 (33) as a junior. Wheeler also ranks fourth on the Division chart with 71 points. Next on the list is Simon Hodkin (73, 1996-99) in third place and Duncan Gladwin (77, 1996-99) in second place while Mark Southern (80, 1994-97) is the all-time leader for points in the Mount's Division I history. Wheeler is the program's all-time leader in shots (230) and could make a move on the all-time goal and points mark. The senior currently has 33 goals to sit fourth in program history, 12 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 Jaeho Song (34, 1980-83) in third place. On the all-time points list, Wheeler has 71 career points and needs 30 points to Tallarido's all-time mark (101). Next on the list is Hodkin (73) in sixth place. 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.
local rivalries... The Mount will once again have 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 will open the season at UMBC on Aug. 27 and then will travel to Towson on Sept. 1 while hosting Howard 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 36-30-4 at home, including 4-2-1 in 2000 (Ryerson's first season) and 5-1 in 2003.
waldron family stadium... Mount St. Mary's is 17-16-2 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 3-3 mark under the lights. The Mount will host Howard (Sept. 19) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (Oct. 28) at night in 2011.
in the league... The Mount is 74-87-27 in Northeast Conference matches. The Mountaineers are 36-50-15 under head coach Rob Ryerson in the NEC and 7-2-2 in the conference opener, including back-to-back NEC opening wins in 2008 and 2009. The Mount is 11-9-2 in the last three seasons in the league.
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 63-105-23. He has led the Mount to a 36-50-15 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.
