opening draw... Wednesday's match between Mount St. Mary's and Holy Cross in Denver marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Mount is 4-13 all-time against teams from the Patriot League (Bucknell [0-2], Lehigh [2-4], American [2-7]). The Crusaders will be the second Patriot League team the Mountaineers face this year after the squad lost to Lehigh in the season opener.

about the crusaders... Holy Cross comes into the contest 0-3 after falling 8-5 to Yale on Saturday. Senior A Ali Baird paced the Crusaders with two goals while junior M Annie Boylan, freshman M Taylor Zebrowski and sophomore M Kat Sutton also scored in the loss. Baird leads the team with five tallies and Sutton is second on the squad with four goals. Boylan has a team-high seven draw controls while sophomore M Catherine Furman leads the defense with five caused turnovers and four ground balls. Junior GK Amy Martin has 32 saves, an 11.00 goals against average and a .492 saves percentage.

last time out... Denver defeated Mount St. Mary's 18-2 on Sunday. Ashley Johnson and Jackie Kearney  each scored for the Mount while Emily Kirby dished out an assist in the loss. Johnson played a contest in her home state for the first time in her career.

next on tap... Mount St. Mary's travels to George Washington on Mar. 10 and returns to Waldron Family Stadium to host Longwood on Mar. 13.

johnson's homecoming... Senior Ashley Johnson played in her home state for the first time in her collegiate career when the Mountaineers faced Denver on Sunday. The senior scored a goal in the 18-2 loss. Johnson will have one more game in her home state when she faces Holy Cross on Wednesday. Johnson is the first player in program history to hail from Colorado.

congrads coach... Head coach Sonia LaMonica picked up her first career head coach victory with a 21-1 win against Howard on Feb. 22.

about the coach... Sonia LaMonica begins her first season at the Mount in 2010. LaMonica comes to the Mount after serving as an assistant coach at Denver and Towson. A native of Darlington, South Australia, LaMonica led the Australian National Team to a gold medal at the 2005 World Cup Championships and a silver medal at the 2009 World Cup Championships. She was named to the 2005 IFWLA All-World team, the U21 South Australian Sportswoman of the Year and was a two-time member of the South Australian A-Grade All-Star team. A 2003 graduate of the University of Maryland, LaMonica was a three-year starter for the Terrapins. She earned first team All-America honors and was a candidate for the Tewaaraton Trophy as a senior after leading Maryland to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. LaMonica won three ACC titles during her career and helped Maryland win the NCAA championship during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. She finished her college career with 111 goals, including 49 during her senior year when she served as a team captain, and had 55 assists.

in the month... The Mount is 53-44 all-time in the month of March. The squad is 35-13 at home, but just 18-31 away from Emmitsburg. Mount St. Mary's will have three games at Waldron Family Stadium and three road contests in the month.

a career day to write about... Sophomore Esther Rufolo notched her first collegiate hat trick against Lehigh on Feb. 20. Senior Ashley Johnson notched a career-high five goals and junior Alexis Salerno scored a personal-best four tallies against Howard on Feb. 22. Freshman Jordan Certeza had a career-high two goals and four assists against the Bison.

in their debut... Freshman Jordan Certeza made her collegiate debut in the starting lineup against Lehigh on Feb. 20 while Kaitlyn Larrimore, Allie Fife and Natalie Loutchanioff saw action off the bench against the Mountain Hawks. Goalkeeper Sarah Leder saw her first collegiate action against Howard on Feb. 22.

remember the first time we scored... Senior Sydney Sykes (one goal, one assist) and freshmen Jordan Certeza (two goals, four assists), Kaitlyn Larrimore (one goal), Allie Fife (one goal, one assist) and Natalie Loutchaninoff (one goal) each recorded their first career points in the contest against Howard on Feb. 22.

preseason poll... The Mount St. Mary's women's lacrosse team has been picked fifth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Two-time defending champion Sacred Heart was selected as the preseason favorite after receiving five first-place votes. Monmouth nabbed three first-place nods to finish second and Quinnipiac picked up the final two first-place votes to place third in the poll while Robert Morris, the Mount, Wagner, Long Island, Bryant, Central Connecticut State and Saint Francis (Pa.) rounded out the 10-team poll.

turning the program around... After starting the first eight campaigns of women's lacrosse at the Mount with a 61-70 record, the Mount has posted a 64-49 overall mark and 37-10 record in the Northeast Conference since the start of the 2004 season. The squad has notched three winning seasons, three league regular season championships (2004, 2005, 2007) and two NCAA Division I tournament berths (2004, 2005) in that stretch.

johnson and more johnson... Senior Ashley Johnson has 90 goals and 13 assists for 103 points in her career. The senior moved into ninth place on the program's all-time career Top-10 with 90 tallies after finding the twine five times against Howard on Feb. 22. Next on the list is Nicole Di'Angelo (91, 2002-05). Johnson became the 17th player in program history to reach 100 points in her career and needs 26 points to crack the Top-10.

kearney a big draw...  Senior Jackie Kearney ranks seventh in program history with 83 career draw controls. Next on the list is Kim Keene (100, 2001-04). Kearney was named to the All-Northeast Conference second team as a frehman.

aly is all defense... Junior Aly Jost has been named to the All-Northeast Conference first team in her first two campaigns and was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. Jost paced the NEC with 47 ground balls and fueled the Mount with 19 caused turnovers as a sophomore. The junior needs 16 caused turnovers to crack the all-time career Top-10 and became the 23rd player in program history with 100 ground balls after scooping up one ground ball against Denver on Feb. 28.

rufolo's a big draw... Sophomore Esther Rufolo leads the team with 10 draw controls in 2010 after ranking third on the team with 21 in her freshman campaign. The sophomore grabbed a career-high seven draw controls against Howard on Feb. 22. In addition to getting the offense started, Rufolo ranks second on the team with five goals and one assist for six points. She notched her first collegiate hat trick in the season opener against Lehigh on Feb. 20.

pompa pumps up the jam... Junior Lucy Pompa did it all for the Mount in 2009, ranking second on the team in ground balls (31), draw controls (26) and caused turnovers (15) to earn a spot on the All-Northeast Conference second team. The junior needs 13 draw controls to crack the Top-10 in the category.

local rivalry... Mount St. Mary's will play three teams from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area this season.  The Mount will host Howard (W, 21-1) on Feb. 22 and Johns Hopkins on Apr. 13 while traveling to George Washington on Mar. 10. The Bison returns to the schedule for the first time since the 2005 season while the Blue Jays will be making their second trip to Emmitsburg and the first since the 1998 season.

conference honors... The Mount returns two players that received All-Northeast Conference recognition last season. Junior Aly Jost was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-NEC first team while junior Lucy Pompa was named to the All-NEC second team. Senior was named to the All-NEC first team in 2008 and senior Jackie Kearney was named to the All-NEC second team as a freshman.

the mount royal blood line...  Freshman goalkeeper Brigid McTavish is related to one of the best Mount St. Mary's men's basketball player in program history. McTavish's grandfather is Jack Sullivan, the Mount's men's basketball all-time leading scorer with 2,672 career points.

high school teammates in college... Senior local products Katie Bollinger and Sydney Sykes played together on the Winters Mill defense in Westminster, Md. In addition juniors Kelly Taylor and Aly Jost played together at Bel Air.

the local crew... Mount St. Mary's has four players on its roster from Carroll County. Senior Katie Bollinger (Westminster, Md.), sophomore Meaghan Conlan (Eldersburg, Md.), sophomore Brigid McTavish (Mount Airy, Md.), and senior Sydney Sykes (Westminster, Md.) all hail from the neighboring county.

new to the mountain... Along with first-year head coach Sonia LaMonica, freshmen Jordan Certeza, Allie Fife, Kaitlyn Larrimore, Kristin O'Donnell and Natalie Loutchaninoff join the team in 2010.

home sweet home, emmitsburg... Mount St. Mary's is 72-49 at home in its 15 seasons. In the past five campaigns, the Mount is 41-17 in Emmitsburg, including 25-3 against league opponents in that stretch. The Mount moved into the Waldron Family Stadium in 2006 and the squad is 13-9 in its new home.

all-time mark... Mount St. Mary's is 124-119 all-time in 15 seasons, including 73-49 at home, 48-64 on the road and 3-7 at a neutral site. The Mount is also 55-24 in the Northeast Conference play. The squad also boasts a 14-0 mark in the MAAC after winning the league in 1997 and 1998.