February 23, 2012

EMMITSBURG, Md. - The Mount St. Mary's men's lacrosse team, favored to win the conference championship in the recent 2012 NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, will play six of its 13 games at Waldron Family Stadium. The schedule is highlighted by home games against Virginia and Maryland.

The Mount will open the 2012 season on Saturday facing the Blue Hens of Delaware at Delaware Stadium. This is the first time the two teams have met since 2007. Delaware has won all 10 games in all-time series.

After the season opener, Mount St. Mary's will meet Virginia, ranked No. 1 in national preseason polls, for their first home match of the season at Waldron Family Stadium on Feb.28. The Mount opened the 2011 season with a 22-6 loss at Virginia.

The Mountaineers then travel to Towson on Mar. 3. Last year, the Tigers defeated the Mount 11-3 in the Mount's home opener. 

The non-conference play continues with a home game verses VMI (Mar 10.), at Georgetown (Mar. 13) before returning home to host Drexel (Mar.17). The Mount will then travel to Michigan (Mar. 24) to face the first-year program.

Mount St. Mary's opens Northeast Conference (NEC) play against Quinnipiac on Mar. 31. The Bobcats are predicted to finish fourth in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Last season the Mountaineers pulled off a 16-10 victory in Hamden, Conn., in a regular season match up and later met again for the NEC Championship Game where the Mount managed a 14-9 victory.

The Mount will hit the road for two away contests against the Bryant (Apr.7) and Robert Morris (Apr.14). These two teams are predicted to finish second and third, respectively. In the 2011 season the Mount saw Bryant twice and split with a 9-8 loss in regular season before downing the Bulldogs 14-9 in the NEC Semifinals. In 2011, the Mount opened conference play at home against Robert Morris with a 12-11 win. 

The Mountaineers will then head home to host Sacred Heart (Apr 21) and Maryland (Apr 25). This season, Sacred Heart was predicted to finish fifth in the conference while the Mount has won all five meetings in the series. The Terrapins have won all seven meetings, but this will mark the first tilt since 2008.

The regular season concludes with a game at Wagner on Apr. 28. The Mount has a 12-0 record against the Seahawks. Last season, the Mount dominated Wagner in a 22-5 victory in Emmitsburg.

Mount St. Mary's looks for a repeat of last season after capturing the inaugural NEC title at home to cap the 2011 season where they finished 9-6 overall and 4-1 in conference play.