MOUNT ST. MARY'S (4-8, 1-3 NEC) vs. BRYANT (5-8, 3-2 NEC)
Saturday, April 18, 12:00 p.m.
Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
MOUNT UPDATE: The Mountaineers lost to Saint Joseph's, 16-4, on Saturday to fall to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast Conference. Justin Gosnell scored a pair of goals for the Mount, which fell behind 12-0 in the contest. Bubba Johnson leads the Mount with 22 points (15g, 7a) while Gosnell is second on the team with 21 points (17g, 4a). Goalkeeper Matt Vierheller has an 8.26 goals against average and .577 save percentage this season.
ABOUT BRYANT: Bryant enters the matchup with the Mount at 5-8 overall and 3-2 in the Northeast Conference after a 10-8 loss to No. 8 Albany on Tuesday night. Tucker James and Cam Ziegler each scored a pair of goals for the Bulldogs in the loss. Bryant led 4-2 at the half, and evened the score at 8-8 on a Ziegler goal in the fourth quarter. James (26g, 10a) and Shane Morrell (21g, 15a) are tied for the team lead with 36 points. Gunnar Waldt has started all 13 games in goal, posting an 8.38 goals against average and a .580 save percentage. Face-off specialist Kevin Massa has won 170-of-260 (.654) face-offs while collecting a team-high 116 ground balls.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Bryant holds a 5-2 lead in the all-time series that began in 2009. The Mountaineers are 2-2 all-time at home against Bryant, including a 10-9 victory on April 20, 2013, in the last matchup between the two teams at Waldron Family Stadium. Last year, the Mount lost at Bryant by the score of 9-7. The teams have met twice in the NEC Tournament with the Mount earning a 14-9 win in the NEC semifinals in 2011 and Bryant defeating the Mount, 12-6, in the NEC Championship the next year.
SENIOR DAY: The Mount will be honoring 11 seniors prior to the game on Saturday. Mike Celmer, Christian Durham, Nick Firman, Braedon Graham, Nick Haley, Mark Hojnoski, Brooks Johnson, Kyle O'Brien, Trevor Shaw, Alex Stefkovich and Clayton Wainer will be playing their final home game against the Bulldogs.
STRONG DEFENSIVE EFFORT: The Mount allowed just two goals in its win over Sacred Heart last Saturday. The two goals allowed are the fewest by a Mount team since an 8-2 win over Saint Joseph's in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game on May 4, 2003. The Mount held the Pioneers off the scoreboard for the first 40:52 of the game.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Freshman goalkeeper Matt Vierheller is fifth in the nation in save percentage at 60.1 percent this season. Vierheller is also eighth in goals against average (7.65) and 12th in saves per game (11.56). Senior defender Kyle O'Brien is fifth in the country with 2.09 caused turnovers per game.
McCARTHY STEPS UP: Junior Frankie McCarthy got the start in the cage in the Mount's 12-11 win over Bucknell and responded with a career-high 19 saves. McCarthy was outstanding in the first half, making 14 saves while facing 30 shots. He added a pair of key caused turnovers in the fourth quarter while picking up four ground balls in the game, and was named the Select Sector SPDR D1 Men's Player of the Week by Inside Lacrosse.
VIERHELLER EARNS WEEKLY HONOR: Freshman Matt Vierheller was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week on March 30 after posting a 6.50 goals against average and a .581 save percentage in two games. The freshman was outstanding against Sacred Heart, allowing two goals while making 13 saves in the 10-2 victory. Vierheller is the second Mountaineer to earn Rookie of the Week honors this season, joining Mike Moynihan who grabbed the award on Feb. 16. The last time the Mount had multiple Rookie of the Week winners in the same season was 2010 when Andrew Scalley (two times), Brett Schmidt and Bryant Schmidt all won the award.
GOSNELL TAKES TEAM LEAD IN GOALS: Junior Justin Gosnell, in his first season with the Mountaineers, has taken over the team lead with 17 goals this season. He has scored at least one goal in each of the past eight games, and has seven multiple-goal efforts this season.
EXPERIENCE ON DEFENSE: The Mount's trio of senior starters on defense includes Nick Firman, Kyle O'Brien and Alex Stefkovich. This season, the three have combined for 72 ground balls and 43 caused turnovers this season. O'Brien has 28 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers, Firman has 31 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, and Stefkovich has 13 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. The three combined for 90 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers last season.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Mike Daly, Nick Firman and Braedon Graham are the team captains for the Mountaineers this season.
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers complete the regular season on Saturday, April 25, at Hobart.
--Mount St. Mary's University Athletics--
