MOUNT ST. MARY'S (3-2) vs. VMI (1-5)
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 12:00 pm
Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES
MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's has won two in a row to improve to 3-2 on the season. The Mount is coming off a 10-8 win over Furman last Saturday in the team's home opener. Freshman Chris DiPretoro scored three goals to pace the Mount while Justin Gosnell, Mike Moynihan and Mark Hojnoski each added a pair of goals in the win. Goalkeeper Matt Vierheller made 11 saves. The Mount scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to take a 10-6 advantage, and held off Furman for the two-goal win.
ABOUT THE KEYDETS: VMI enters Saturday's game 1-5 on the year after a 7-6 home loss to Wagner on Tuesday. Cody Sheetz scored a pair of goals to lead the Keydets in the game. VMI trailed 7-4 heading into the fourth quarter, but scored a pair of goals to cut the deficit to 7-6. The Keydets were unable to get the equalizer. Wesley Sanders leads VMI with 13 goals and three assists for 16 points. Sheetz is second on the team with six goals. Joe Riccadonna has started all six games in goal, posting a 12.76 goals against average and a .482 save percentage.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Mount St. Mary's holds an 18-2 lead in the all-time series with VMI. Last season, the Mount earned an 11-8 win on the road. Mount St. Mary's has won the past eight matchups between the teams, and is 9-0 all-time at home against the Keydets. The teams were both members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference from 2003-10.
LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Mike Moynihan scored three goals as Mount St. Mary's opened the 2015 season with an 11-8 win at VMI last year. Mike Pascali and Clayton Wainer each added a pair of goals for the Mountaineers in the win. Moynihan (3g), Wainer (2g, 1a) and Spencer Smith (1g, 2a) all had three-point games for the Mount in the victory. Matt Vierheller made 11 saves while allowing eight goals to earn a win in his first collegiate start for the Mount. Defensively, Nick Firman had eight ground balls while Alex Stefkovich and Kyle O'Brien each had three caused turnovers for the Mount. Mike DeBlasio had two goals and an assist to lead VMI while Brad Nardella and Brad Biondello each had a goal and an assist in the loss. Evan Windisch made six saves while allowing 11 goals in the cage.
MOUNT SWEEPS NEC WEEKLY AWARDS: Mount St. Mary's went 2-0 last week, and swept the Northeast Conference Weekly awards in the process. Graduate student Mark Hojnoski was named the NEC Player of the Week after tallying seven goals and an assist in wins over Georgetown and Furman. Frankie McCarthy was named the Defensive Player of the Week after tallying 13 saves while allowing seven goals in the Mount's win at Georgetown. McCarthy had a .650 save percentage in the game. Chris DiPretoro was the Rookie of the Week after tallying back-to-back hat tricks in the wins. It is the first time the Mount has swept the NEC awards since May 10, 2010.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Evan Gormley, Bubba Johnson and Brent Tsang are the team captains for the Mountaineers this season.
UP NEXT: The Mountaineers open Northeast Conference play at Bryant on Saturday, March 19.
