MOUNT ST. MARY'S (0-0) at UMBC (0-2)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 | 11 a.m.
UMBC Stadium | Baltimore, Md.
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS
OPENING DRAW: Mount St. Mary's kicks off its 20th season of women's lacrosse with a road test at in-state opponent UMBC on Saturday at UMBC Stadium. The Mount will look to continue its legacy as one of the Northeast Conference's elite programs under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Lauren Schwarzmann. Six starters return from last year's team including the squad's second-leading scorer, Erin Seipp.
SCHEDULE CHANGES: Saturday's game at UMBC was originally scheduled for noon, but was pushed up to 11 a.m. due to expected inclement weather. The Mount was also set to open its season with a home game versus St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, Feb. 18, but the contest was rescheduled due to sub-freezing temperatures.
NEW ERA: Lauren Schwarzmann was named the ninth head coach in Mount St. Mary's women's lacrosse history on July 8, 2014. The Sykesville, Md. native and former U.S. National Team player returned to her Maryland roots after three years on the West Coast as an assistant at San Diego State for one season and Stanford for two. Schwarzmann, who played collegiately at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, helped lead the Blue Jays to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances as a midfielder before joining the coaching ranks as an assistant at Cincinnati. Schwarzmann takes over for B.J. Johnson, who resigned following the 2014 season after guiding the Mountaineers to two Northeast Conference runner-up finishes in four years.
ABOUT UMBC: The Retrievers have suffered a pair of 10-9 overtime losses to open the season, dropping games to Temple and La Salle. Abby Wilson leads the UMBC attack with four goals, including a hat trick last time out versus La Salle. In goal sophomore Kelly Gielner has started both games with freshman Kelsey Major also seeing minutes in the two opening contests.
SERIES VS. UMBC: The Mount has gone 1-13 in the all-time series with UMBC and is 0-7 on the road versus the Retrievers. The Mount's lone win in the series came on April 23, 2004 by a 12-10 final score. UMBC has won four in a row over the Mount, including a 15-2 victory at Waldron Family Stadium a year ago. The series dates back to the Mount's first varsity season in 1996.
SEASON OPENERS: The Mount has gone 4-15 in season openers all time with the last win on opening day coming in 2001 in a 14-9 victory at Howard. Since then, the Mountaineers have lost 13-consecutive season-opening games.
RETURNERS: Mount St. Mary's returns 11 letterwinners, including six starters off last year's team, which finished 3-13 overall and 2-5 in the Northeast Conference. Senior Erin Seipp, the team's second leading scorer with 17 goals to go with a team-best six assists last year, headlines the attack. Midfielders Sammie Knapp (8 g) and Megan Gluck (3 g, 4 a) are also back with another year of experience. Defensively, senior Melissa Cox, who has started all 52 games in her career, as well as sophomore Alex Carhart return as starters on the backline. Junior goalkeeper Steph Rurkowski will again anchor the defense, entering her second year as a starter.
NEW TO THE MOUNT: Nine new freshmen will work into the mix this season. The first-year Mountaineers, which make up 45 percent of the team, includes seven players from Maryland and one apiece from Virginia and Connecticut.
CAPTAINS: Prior to the season, Head Coach Lauren Schwarzmann announced captains for the 2015 campaign will be seniors Melissa Cox and Erin Seipp, as well as sophomore Sammie Knapp. Cox and Knapp are first-year captains, while Seipp is entering her second season as a team captain.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior Erin Seipp is tied for 19th in school history with 63 career goals, while fellow senior Melissa Cox checks in at 18th on the program's all-time draw controls list with 59.
2014 RECAP: The 2014 Mountaineers put together a 3-13 overall record and finished in a tie for fifth place in the NEC regular season standings to finish one slot out of the playoffs. Facing a challenging nonconference schedule that featured local foes Johns Hopkins and UMBC, the Mount entered league play with a 1-8 record. In Northeast Conference action, the Mount posted a 2-5 mark with wins over Sacred Heart and Saint Francis U.
NEC PRESEASON POLL: The Mount was selected fifth in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll. Bryant, Wagner and Robert Morris finished 1-2-3 in the poll, followed by Central Connecticut and the Mount. Sacred Heart, LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis U rounded out the poll.
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers head to Fairfax, Va. to take on George Mason on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5 p.m.
