#4 MOUNT ST. MARY'S (5-9) at #1 SAINT JOSEPH'S (10-5)
Thursday, April 30, 2015, 4:00 p.m.
Sweeney Field, Philadelphia, Pa.

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MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's earned the fourth and final Northeast Conference playoff spot with a 10-8 win on Saturday at Hobart coupled with a Sacred Heart loss to Saint Joseph's.  Evan Gormley recorded a hat trick in the win while Ryan Lamon chipped in a career-high four points (2g, 2a).  The Mount dominated the first half, leading 8-3 while holding a 25-to-8 edge in shots and a 23-to-11 advantage in ground balls.  Matt Vierheller made 10 saves in the game.

ABOUT THE HAWKS:  Saint Joseph's enters the Northeast Conference Tournament on a seven-game win streak.  The Hawks won the regular season title with a perfect 6-0 record, and are 5-2 at home this year.  Mike Rastivo leads the team with 38 goals and 55 points while Ryan McGee has 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points.  Goalkeeper T.J. Jones has an 8.05 goals against average and a .528 save percentage in 13 games (9 starts).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES:  Saint Joseph's cruised to a 16-4 win at the Mount on April 11.  The Mount, however, holds a 13-6 lead in the all-time series.  The Mount and Saint Joseph's were in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference together from 1997-2010.  The Hawks have won the past two meetings in the series since joining the NEC last year.  The Mount is 4-4 all-time on the road against the Hawks.

MOUNT ST. MARY'S AND THE NEC TOURNAMENT:  Mount St. Mary's is making its first NEC Tournament since 2012.  The Mountaineers won the inaugural NEC Tournament title in 2011 with a 14-9 win over Quinnipiac at home.  The next season, the Mount lost to Bryant, 12-6, in the NEC Championship game after downing top-seeded Robert Morris, 16-15, in overtime in the semifinals.

MOUNT AND SAINT JOSEPH'S IN POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS:  The Mount has faced Saint Joseph's one other time in a postseason tournament.  The Mount downed the Hawks, 8-2, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game in 2003, earning the school's first-ever bid to the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament.

MOUNT ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS:  The Mount has a 12-6 record in conference tournaments in their history.  The Mount went 9-5 all-time in MAAC Tournaments while owning a 3-1 mark in the Northeast Conference Tournament.  Mount St. Mary's is 8-2 all-time in the semifinal round and 4-4 in championship games.  The Mountaineers own a 3-2 all-time record against No. 1 seeds, including a 16-15 overtime win over top-seeded Robert Morris in the 2012 NEC semifinals.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES:  Freshman goalkeeper Matt Vierheller was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday.  It is Vierheller's second NEC Rookie of the Week award this season, and he joins Andrew Scalley (won two in 2010) as the only players in MSM history to record two NEC Rookie of the Week awards in the same year.  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.

NATIONAL LEADERS:  Senior defenseman Kyle O'Brien is ninth in the nation with 1.79 caused turnovers per game...Matt Vierheller ranks 11th in the nation in save percentage (.571), 14th in goals against average (8.22) and tied for 21st in saves per game (10.33).

BALANCED SCORING:  The Mount offense has been balanced this year with 15 different players recording at least one goal.  Justin Gosnell has taken over the team lead with 20 goals with Bubba Johnson (17), Evan Gormley (15) and Mark Hojnoski (14) also in double figures.

EXPERIENCE ON DEFENSE:  The Mount's trio of senior starters on defense includes Nick Firman, Kyle O'Brien and Alex Stefkovich.  The three have combined for 179 ground balls and 71 caused turnovers over the past two seasons.

NEC GAMES:  The Mountaineers averaged 7.00 goals per game while allowing 8.33 goals in the six NEC games this year...Justin Gosnell led the Mount with 13 points (9g, 4a) in league play while Evan Gormley had nine points (7g, 2a) and Mark Hojnoski eight points (8g).  Matt Vierheller posted a 57.1 save percentage and a 7.90 goals against average while Nick Haley won 52-of-97 (.536) face-offs.

TEAM CAPTAINS:  Mike Daly, Nick Firman and Braedon Graham are the team captains for the Mountaineers this season.